The Minority in Parliament has demanded the presence of the Food and Agriculture, Finance and Education Ministers, to appear before Parliament over the picketing of food suppliers at the National Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO).

Government owes the food suppliers GH¢270 million for food that was supplied to Senior High Schools across the country from 2021 to 2023.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said “Mr Speaker, I want to appeal to you that the Minister for Education and Minister for Agric should be programmed to appear before this House urgently. Possibly, we should add the Minister for Finance.”

The trio Ministers, Bryan Acheampong, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum and Ken Ofori-Atta are required to assure the House how they are going to settle the food supplier’s debts.

Some members of the National Food Suppliers Association spent the night at the premises of NAFCO to demand payment of monies owed them for over two years.

Mr Ablakwa is worried about the situation, and wants immediate action taken to pay the suppliers.

https://myjoyonline.com/we-cant-go-back-because-creditors-are-on-us-food-suppliers-tells-national-buffer-stock/

“Over the last four days running to five days continuously, they have been at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather. My Speaker, last night the Minority Leader shared a video with me on how the suppliers were wailing, rolling on the floor and I was so depressed and went to bed last night really troubled.

In a related development, a ranking member on Parliament’s Education Committee has raised allegations of dishonesty against NAFCO regarding its interactions with the National Food Suppliers Association.

Peter Notsu-Kotoe expressed his sympathies to the members of the National Food Suppliers Association.

Speaking on JoyNews‘ AM Show, the Akatsi South MP insisted that NAFCO has become a hub for shady dealings.

“Bufferstock has become a hub for corruption where the things that go on is very bad. There should be a point where we investigate the activities of Buffer Stock,” he indicated.

https://myjoyonline.com/parliament-may-summon-education-minister-and-nafco-ceo-over-food-suppliers-debt-dr-apak/

Notsu-Kotoe further stated that the aggrieved suppliers informed him that the Ministry of Education has already disbursed approximately 90% of the arrears to the Buffer Stock Company.

However, the funds have yet to be made available to the suppliers, raising concerns about the transparency and integrity of the process.

He, therefore, called for a public inquiry into the company’s activities.