KEY POINTS
- New that the student nourishment was at risk it drew more concerns with what became known as the expired rice scandal.
- Justice for affected students no Dr. Apaak challenges NPP to account.
- This is because food safety violations are not unique to the Wa Senior High School but are symptomatic of problems in the education system in Ghana.
The Ghanaian Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Clement Apaak, directed the citizens of Ghana to demand an explanation from NPP after students in various schools were fed expired rice.
From the speech of Apaak, it is evident that this has been part of the trend especially in the nonchalant attitude exhibited by the government in the protection and provision of the welfare of students.
Giving students stale food is denying them their basic rights of quality and safe foods to eat. The NPP must be punished at the polls for this disgraceful act,” Apaak stated.
He also continued to escalate arguing that government has failed in its role of ensuring that food is safe for young people let alone during this time that they are in school after COVID-19.The expired rice case involved several schools in the country where students were affected after taking the expiry food product.
The shocking state of affairs that greeted users pointed to either poor handling of the rice or purchase from substandard suppliers. Several students raised concerns about having stomach aches and other diseases likely to have been caused by the meals.
The member of parliament for Builsa south constituency cried almighty and appeared furious as he demanded that arrests of culprits must be made a s earliest as possible. Speaking on the issue, Apaak said “This is not the first time that the NPP government has singled out students and shown that time and again, they don’t deserve our attention.”
The government’s response
When asked about the matter, the Ministry of Education has vowed to look into the issue. However, many critics argue that this is all political move and delay tactics that have been enacted.
The people’s perception toward the government in addressing the needs of the education sector has, however, taken a poor turn and many are calling for the head of those who allowed the expiration of the rice to continue circulating within the market.
The increasing cases of tainted foods in some of the Ghanaian schools has stirred concern on food hygiene standards that are being upheld in public food procurement. The FDA has also promised to step up its supervision on school feeding programs in order to avoid similar occurrences.
Calls for action
Dr. Apaak has also demanded a complete auditing of the school feeding program to check whether the food given to the students meets the international standards.
However, he remains optimistic and is convinced that the country has to be more careful to prevent other scandals of this nature in the future calling for strict supervision and genuine disclosure of information.
With the upcoming elections in Ghana, Apaak’s call for punishment of the NPP is music to the ears of many voters especially parents who feel that the government has let them and their children down.
