KEY POINTS
- Safo was tasked by Akufo-Addo to audit the program.
- Key figure in the program avoided Safo’s investigation.
- Safo urges investigation into corruption within the School Feeding Programme.
Sarah Adwoa Safo, the former minister of gender, children, and social protection, has said that former President Akufo-Addo gave her the order to audit the school feeding program but then turned away when the results showed pervasive corruption.
Adwoa Safo claims Akufo-Addo tasked her with auditing program
Adwoa Safo stated on Movement Radio that shortly after she was appointed minister, Nana Akufo-Addo personally assigned her to audit the program, even before she had been given funding to operate the ministry.
Even before I had the money to work, former President Akufo-Addo asked me to audit the School Feeding Program when I was appointed as the gender minister. She remarked, “He wanted to know how the money was being used.”
Safo clarified that she repeatedly invited a significant program participant to come during her probe, but the person declined. Rather, Safo later got a message asking why she was attempting to “destroy” the individual’s official link.
“I repeatedly invited one of the women, but she never accepted. Later, she messaged me to ask why I was allegedly attempting to ruin her government relationship, but I informed her that I was simply carrying out my duties, Adwoa Safo claimed.
Audit reveals corruption, centered in Central Region
A large portion of the corruption was concentrated in the Central Region, according to the report that Safo gave to Cabinet after continuing the audit in spite of opposition. She sent the findings to the president, but Akufo-Addo disassociated himself from the audit after the public reacted negatively to the disclosures.
President Akufo-Addo claimed that he did not order me to conduct the audit and that I should even put it on hold in response to the criticism. My issues began there,” she remarked.
According to Joynews, the same woman who had declined to attend the audit meetings, according to Safo, later recommended that they conspire to add ghost schools in order to exaggerate program allocations for their own benefit.
“He is the one who appointed me,” Adwoa Safo said in response to a question about whether she had a personal problem with Akufo-Addo. There is not much I can do if he eventually states that he is no longer interested in it.
Since then, she has urged President John Mahama to look into the School Feeding Program, saying that corruption will continue if no one is held accountable.
