Members of the
National Food Suppliers Association spent the night at the premises of the
National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) on July 4 to press home their
demands for payment of their over two years’ arrears for food supplies made to
various schools.
The suppliers,
who had come from different parts of Ghana, besieged the premises of NAFCO on
Tuesday in an attempt to drum home their demands, but their efforts were
unsuccessful.
At 10:00 pm on
July 4, a Citi News crew visited NAFCO premises and saw the suppliers
lying on the floor as a sign of protest.
A spokespers
on
for the NAFCO, Kwaku Amedume, reiterated that members of the group would
continue their picketing on July 5.
He called on the
government to pay their arrears, as they are being chased by their creditors
from their homes.
According to
him, their situation has become a serious national security issue that requires
immediate attention.
“We no longer
have peace in our homes. Our homes have been taken over by creditors, and we
seem to have found a place here [Buffer Stock Company]. As you can see, most of
them are sleeping like they’ve never slept before. This shows the kind of
trauma they go through in their own beds.
“We are only
appealing to the government. It is not our intention to embarrass the
government in power. However, this is a serious national security issue because
it threatens their very existence, the essence of their being. That is why we
are appealing to the government.
“The government
should turn its attention to these people. They are really going through a lot.
For over two years, the painful thing is that when the government got the
money, NAFCO decided to work with a different set of people. We started free
SHS with the government when the government didn’t have a penny.”
He said the
government has failed on several occasions to pay them their dues.
“In 2021, they
sat us down and made us supply on credit. At the end of the year, they only
paid a fraction of what we supplied. We didn’t mind, but in 2022, we demanded
money for 2021, but they didn’t listen to us. They told us to continue to
supply and that they would pay us. For the entire year of 2022, we supplied
foodstuffs to the NFSC without taking a dime,” he complained.
He said they
will continue to sleep at the NAFCO office until they receive payments.
“The only
solution is for us to get our money. Otherwise, we will continue to be here,”
he said
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