Sarah Adwoa Safo, former Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, has called on government to sanitize the School Feeding Programme from the massive rot under the scheme.
She cited deep-rooted corruption in the scheme under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
She made the statement on Movement Radio, on March 19, 2025, while speaking to issues that caused a rift between her and former president Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo.
Safo indicated that she uncovered extensive corruption via an audit she supervised while she exercised supervisory functions over the secretariat.
She subsequently, advised the Mahama-led government to check the secretariate to ensure corruption is minimised under their tenure.
“Because of the rot and corruption that goes on over there, this new government must scrutinize activities at the School Feeding Secretariat,” she said.
She expressed worry over the poor execution of the initiative, former President John Kufuor instituted to boost school enrollment at the elementary level.
She lamented that corrupt practices had ruined its purpose, leading to massive financial leakages.
“Former President Kufuor had good intentions when he introduced the programme. But the way it has been manipulated recently is bad,” she said.
Relating the events that led to her uncovering the rot in the sector, the former Dome Kwabenya MP disclosed that former President Akufo-Addo directed her to audit the School Feeding Programme to ascertain how funds were disbursed.
However, the probe unearthed massive irregularities, especially in the Central Region, but when she presented the outcome of the report she didn’t receive favourable feedback.
“I did my audit and sent the report to Cabinet. The majority of the rot came from the Central Region. So, I sent my report to the Presidency. After the backlash, President Akufo-Addo said he’s not the one who directed me to do the audit and that I should even shelve it. That is where my problems started,” she said.
Safo further alleged that a key official in the programme deliberately ignored multiple invitations for questioning and later accused her of trying to destroy her political connections.
Despite the challenges she faced, she maintained that her decision to expose corruption within the programme was based on principle.
Quizzed on her relations with former President Akufo-Addo, she denied habouring any misgivings against her appointor.
“He is the one that appointed me. If there comes a time when he says he is no longer interested in it, there isn’t much that I can do,” she said.
VPO/
