Angry members of the National Food Suppliers Association (NFSA) protest at National Food and Buffer Stock Company for unpaid food arrears for Free Senior High Schools policy.
The enraged members, dressed in red and black attire with red armed bans on their hands, neck, and legs, held placards with various inscriptions such as, Buffer Stock owes us over a year, Bank is auctioning our properties, stop under invoicing suppliers, Mr. President, please order Buffer Stock to pay us, and many others chanting war songs in an attempt to get Buffer Stock to pay their monies.
The membership, mainly made up of the elderly, called on the company to pay them or be prepared to work with them in their offices because they have vowed not to leave the premises without their monies being paid to them.
At the premises of the company, members were seen with their various bags containing items such as sponges, towels, soap, and other domestic items such as coal, cooking utensils, beds, mattresses, pillows, charcoal, and ready-to-cook yam ampesi.’
Speaking to the media, the spokesperson of NFSA, Mr. Kwaku Amedume said the government owe them to the tune of GH₡270million been food supplied to the various senior high schools to support the smooth operation of the Free SHS policy.
Mr. Amedume said the Association has lost two of its members because they could not stand the pressure of creditors and bank officials, who are currently on the verge of auctioning some of their properties used as collateral.
He said the association wanted to embark on the picketing on June 13, but there were some key persons who made interventions thinking that our monies would be paid, but “as we speak, nothing has yielded out of those interventions, hence the picketing today.”
According to Mr. Amedume, the Education Ministry has released 90% of the money to the Buffer Stock Company to pay suppliers, but when we contacted them, “we were told they were also owing some banks, so they used the money to pay their debts.”
“We are not leaving here, we will be here and work with them until our monies are paid because some of our members travelled from all parts of the country and without their monies paid it will be difficult to travel back to their various towns, villages and cities,” he stated.
The spokesperson said the crime of members were to supply foodstuffs and other commodities to schools, and as it is now, “we have exhausted all means to get our monies paid, including letters written to the Education Ministry and management of the Buffer stock, but to no avail, hence the picketing.”
“If we don’t get our monies, we are going to sleep here, wake up with them and work with them because it seems living at the company’s premises is comfortable than our homes. Our businesses are dwindling, we are losing our credibility with our creditors and members are suffering from emotional trauma.”
One of the suppliers who spoke with the Republic Press, Nana Akua Ashantewaa, said currently she has supplied food amounting to GH3.5 million and, because of creditors, cannot stay at home again.
The association also alleged that while government owes them, the management of Buffer Stock has recruited party surrogates to supply food to the schools but the most interesting aspect of the whole story is that these party surrogates still come to them for some of the food items.