One of President Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s flagship programs (the School Feeding Program) is on the verge of dissipating if urgent action is not taken.
For the past six months, local contractors supplying school feeding items for the school feeding program have not been paid a single cent by the Ministry of Finance.
A senior official in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education yesterday confirmed that the school feeding program is facing huge challenges because the Ministry of Finance has not paid a single cent to local contractors for the past six months.
President Bio had the courage and fortitude to introduce the school feeding program as a major component of his flagship Free Quality Education Program.
It appears his legacy is being eroded by some of his trusted officials in the Ministry of Finance.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance admitted the huge backlog of payments owed to local contractors. He said, “We have huge challenges in addressing some of these pressing matters… But we are doing our best to address them.”
Local contractors have threatened to halt supplies if backlog payments are not received by the end of May 2025.
A total of about 300,000 vulnerable children are currently benefiting from the School Feeding Program across the country.
