The National Association of Institutional Suppliers (NAIS) has given the government of Ghana and the Ministry of Education two weeks ultimatum to pay them their outstanding arrears, or they will be forced to do the unthinkable.
The angry members say that since 2021, the government owes them 14 batches of items supplied, a situation they say If not addressed immediately will push them out of business.
According to the Association, since the inception of the Free Senior High School policy six years ago, the group has been facing mountains of problems.
NAIS is made up of suppliers of clothing such as house jerseys, school uniforms, outing dresses, food items, and stationery to Senior High Schools and other institutions throughout the country.
Speaking to journalists in Accra, the National President of NAIS, Mr. Stephen Oware, said their membership comprises seamstresses, Tailors, Fashion designers, Garment producers, and textile designers who were supplying educational materials to the Senior High Schools and Colleges of Education in the country before the advent of the Free SHS program.
He said before the introduction of the Free SHS, the prices of the items “were fixed at the beginning of the academic year after stakeholders’ engagement and in consideration of the market situation and inflationary trends of the year.”
Mr. Oware added that the arrangement halted in 2017, when the Free SHS was introduced.
The price fixed for 2016 has remained virtually the same.
“As you are aware the present economic situation and its attendant price hikes have seriously affected our production cost,” he laments.
The President said the average inflation rate from 2017 to date, for instance, is 24.4%, and the dollar, which was GHC3.9 in 2017, is now hovering around GHC12 as all the factors affecting production have not been favourable and therefore the cost of production has been abnormally high.
He said despite all these, the prices fixed for the supply of the clothing have virtually been the same, adding that the school uniform materials from Printex Ghana, which were GHC 12.40 per yard in 2017, are now GHC 50.00 per yard.
“We have since 2019 written a series of letters to the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service requesting upward adjustment but to our dismay, there hasn’t been any positive response.
“We have met the Minister a couple of times for a discussion, but we have not made any headway. At our last meeting with him about a few months ago, he admitted the present price hikes and their effect on our production but regrettably remarked that the government’s budget is already tight and that such an increase cannot be catered for,” Mr. Oware revealed.
He indicated that despite all this legwork and a series of letters for adjustment, we were therefore surprised and disappointed to receive letters from the schools inviting us to start the procurement process for this school year, which has introduced the supply of trousers for the students instead of the pair of shorts we used to supply them.
“To compensate for this, the Ministry without any cut analysis added GHC5 for the Housedress and GHC 10 for the school uniforms.”
The National President said for the past four years, suppliers have been sacrificing and enduring this situation, but “we cannot continue any longer. We are unable to break even, let alone make a profit. Our Capital continues to dwindle, and we risk losing the businesses we nurtured many years before the free SH policy.”
The Association said that aside from this precarious price stagnation, payment for supplies we make to the schools, especially for the past three years, is almost always delayed. Some supplies made in the 2021 school year are still in arrears, and about 60% of 2022 school year supplies are outstanding.
“The Ministry has failed to fulfil its promise of paying us our monies as agreed on at our meeting about three months ago. This situation has subjected us to a lot of embarrassment from our bankers.”
He added that some of the members are losing their valuable properties used as collateral to the banks, while others have even died out of insolvency and misery.
The Association revealed that this development is seriously threatening the survival of their businesses. “Our spouses, workers, and dependents, numbering over ten thousand, risk losing their livelihood if this situation is not urgently addressed.
Mr. Oware said per the happenings, the government’s touted policy of creating an enabling environment for private sector development will look questionable and the success of the Free SHS policy will also be shaky if this situation is not properly and urgently addressed.
“We are therefore giving the government and the Ministry of Education 14 days ultimatum to pall all outstanding 2022 debts and increase the prices of school uniforms and housedress to account for the current inflationary trend and the supply of trousers should be abolished., the Association demand.
“If these demands are not met the entire members of the association will be picketing at the Ministry of Education to demand our arrears.”
