The Minister-designate for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has said that she will adopt a dialogue approach with caterers providing meals to Ghanaian school children under the National School Feeding Programme over their unpaid arrears when approved by Parliament.

Responding to the issue of payment of school feeding caterers during her vetting Wednesday morning, January 22, the Member of Parliament for Krowor Constituency in the Greater Accra Region said the intention of the John Mahama led government is to address the current bottlenecks around the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant.

“In our manifesto we want to extend the program to even the private schools. From my checks at the Ministry – there is an indication that 40 days have been paid, 31 days in arrears in terms of what is owed the caterers.”

“In me, one of the things I know is my strength is dialogue with whoever is involved for us to find lasting solutions. But once there has been some payments made, His Excellency the President has committed to ensuring that not the implementation of the school feeding goes on smoothly but also the quality is assured and so I will work within that framework to ensure the rest of the payment is done” she stated.

The National School Feeding Programme is pro poor policy of the government of Ghana to provide daily meals to basic school children across the country. The initiative was introduced by the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufuor administration to ensure children stay in school for their contact hours and also meet nutritional requirement.

However, funds allocated to the programme has over the years been inadequate resulting in caterers complaining bitterly of the merger amount paid per child which has affected the quality of food prepared to the beneficiaries.

Brief background of the Minister-designate:

Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey is a seasoned legislator and development expert with over 20 years of experience managing projects in governance, health, education, and women’s rights.

As the Member of Parliament for Krowor Constituency, she serves on key parliamentary committees, shaping national policy and advancing gender and community-focused initiatives.

With a Ph.D. in African Studies, Dr. Lartey has held leadership roles such as General Secretary of the National Association of Local Authorities of Ghana (NALAG) and Executive Director of the Global Initiative on Rights & Development (GIRD), demonstrating expertise in leadership, advocacy, and grassroots empowerment.

Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey was born on 16 April 1976 in Krowor, Greater Accra Region.

Agnes Naa Momo Lartey is a distinguished politician and advocate for social justice, best known for her grassroots mobilisation and commitment to championing women’s and children’s rights.

Source: Ginanewsroom.com