Food suppliers spend the night at the National Food Buffer Stock

Food suppliers spend the night at the National Food Buffer Stock

On July 4, members of the National Food Suppliers Association spent the night at the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to press their demands for payment of almost two years’ worth of food supplies supplied to various schools.

The suppliers, who had travelled from various regions of Ghana, invaded NAFCO’s headquarters on Tuesday in an attempt to press their demands, but their attempts were futile.

At 10:00 p.m. on July 4, a Citi News team arrived at NAFCO’s headquarters and saw the suppliers sleeping on the floor in protest.

NAFCO spokesperson Kwaku Amedume underlined that members of the organisation would continue picketing on July 5.

He urged the government to pay their arrears since their creditors are evicting them from their houses.

He claims that their condition has escalated into a severe national security concern that demands quick intervention.

“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 that the government had neglected to pay them their dues on multiple occasions.

“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 stated that they will continue to sleep at the NAFCO headquarters till their monies arrive.

“The only way forward is for us to get our money.” Otherwise, we will remain here,” he stated.