A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team in the Upper East Region, Johnson Apasinaba Ayine, has dismissed claims that the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) warehouses in the region were mismanaged under the previous administration.
Mr. Ayine was reacting on Bolga FM’s Dena Nboe? programme on Saturday, September 6, 2025, to revelations by the Regional Manager of Buffer Stock, Mr. Albert Adongo, who stated that he met empty warehouses when he assumed office in July this year.
According to Mr. Ayine, the claim was misleading and lacked context. He explained that food stocking is tied to the harvest calendar and does not mean warehouses must always be filled with grains.
“If he says he came and met empty warehouses, what exactly was he expecting? To come and find food there so he could eat it? Warehouses are stocked in season, and the season was just ending when he assumed office. This is common sense!” Mr. Ayine argued.
He further stressed that the food currently being used to feed Senior High Schools was procured during the Akufo-Addo administration as part of a contingency arrangement to support northern farmers affected by a dry spell.
“The food they are using now is what Nana Akufo-Addo and Bryan Acheampong, then Agric Minister, purchased. About $500 million was spent to secure those items. If the former president had not made provision, would they have had food to share?” he asked.
Mr. Ayine also pointed to the expansion of student numbers under the Free SHS policy as a factor straining the system, insisting that the NPP government had managed the challenge better than its predecessors.
“During the NDC’s eight years, northern Ghana had only 83 senior high schools, yet they couldn’t feed them properly. With Free SHS, numbers doubled, and we even introduced a double-track system, yet we kept the schools running,” he said.
He accused critics of seeking to politicize food meant for students.
“You wanted food to be lying in the warehouses so you could come and share among yourselves, just like you did with fertilizer. We will not allow that again,” he charged.
Background
The debate follows comments by the Upper East Regional Manager of Buffer Stock, Mr. Albert Adongo, who disclosed on Bolga FM’s Tinmaalgo Sanga that when he assumed office in July 2025, there was no foodstuff in the regional warehouses. Mr. Adongo linked the empty warehouses to past practices of buying food directly from the market to supply schools, a system he said contributed to shortages and poor-quality meals in senior high schools.
His comments have since drawn strong reactions from political and educational stakeholders in the region.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Seidu Mutawakil Azangbeogo|Bolgatanga
