GES denies feeding SHS students with maggot-infested rice

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has denied allegations by the Minority Spokesperson on Education in Parliament, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, that the education authority has been supplying Senior High Schools (SHSs) with maggot-infested rice.

GES Director of Public Relations, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, said no Senior High School (SHS) had received any rice containing maggots.

“I specifically tasked all the regional directors to liaise with their heads and to report. Let me tell you that none of the regional directors gave us the information that any of their schools within their regions received a bag, even a single bag of maggot-infested rice. Also, we do not know where that report is coming from,” she said.

Madam Ampofo confirmed after an investigation in response to the allegations, and the results indicated that the claims were false.

“Per our investigations, which I personally chaired, we did not find any, so that is false,” she said.

Peter Nortsu-Kotoe has accused the GES of distributing maggot-infested rice to Senior High Schools nationwide.

He explained that the rice had been stored in a warehouse for an extended period, and when it was nearing expiration, the GES distributed it to schools.

Making the claim on the floor of parliament on Monday, he said, “Mr Speaker, as we speak now, there is the same rice in the system which has been supplied in the system from India. This rice, Mr Speaker, is maggot-infested. When it was imported in 2021, the suppliers or the importers did not pay for the duty on the rice, so it had to be stored in a warehouse. Now they have nicodemusly gone to remove the rice and distributed it to Senior High Schools.”

Mr Nortsu-Kotoe, who is also the representative of the people of the Akatsi North constituency, added that at the moment, about 5,000 metric tonnes of rice have been distributed to second-cycle institutions.

Again, the legislator said this phenomenon was recurring, as expired canned fish was supplied to schools two years ago.

“You will realize that the type of food they are fed at school is questionable. Very, very terrible. Two years ago, I raised an issue of a canned fish that was provided in the senior high schools when it was about to expire. They rebranded the container and made it look as if it was newly imported,” he lamented.