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I have read with disgust a publication in some electronic and print media on the 2nd March 2016, written by one Awal Mohammed who claims to be a deputy National communications Officer of the NDC Zongo Caucus, on the School Feeding Programme.

It is evident that the writer is either ill-informed about the whole programme or has a diabolical intent and has therefore made it a business to fabricate and concoct falsehood against my personality and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of 2001-2008.

In the said publication captioned “School Feeding Not a Brainchild of NPP” the writer alluded to the fact that in 2003, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, established the UN Hunger Taskforce (UNHTF) together with AU’s NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) and subsequently designed the Home-grown School feeding policy as part of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development; as a result the School Feeding programme was initiated and piloted in Ghana, thus implying that it could not have been my initiative and by extension that of the NPP government.

Subsequently I wish to respond to the said article as per below(in my capacity as the idea generator and a former Executive Chairman of the Programme) that the assertion by Awal Mohammed does not only lack merit but it’s baseless, empty and hollow in thinking and should therefore be disregarded by all well-meaning citizenry.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UN HUNGER TASK FORCE

Indeed the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan did establish the Hunger project but as a universal (Global) policy that remained in the statute books of many UN member countries including Ghana. This meant that a government needed to have a country specific action plan as a show of commitment to implement the Hunger project, an effort the state (Ghana) never made until 2005 when I personally walked to my government party leader and president, John Agyekum Kuffuor to speak to him about my intentions to set up the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).

HISTORY BEHIND GSFP ESTABLISHEMENT

In early part of 2003 I established an office to fight Hunger and Poverty and held several media engagements to create awareness on the programme resulting in Ghana becoming a member of the international alliance against hunger. Subsequently I founded some civil society groups; UNFAO RIGHT TO FOOD PROGRAMME as well as CIVIL SOCIETY AGAINST HUNGER AND POVERTY with the intent of serving as pressure groups that will keep government on its toes as far as agriculture and food policy initiation and implementation are concerned.

During this period I was invited on a prestigious programme by the US government, state department, in conjunction with USA alliance against hunger, for me to tour various institutions including primary schools and their feeding programme, department of agriculture etc. The final destination in USA was in New York City – at Columbia University.

At lunch, on the invitation of the Dept of Earth Science, Columbia University, Dr. Pedro Sanchez, Director of Tropical Agriculture and Director of UN Millennium Village Project (UNMVP), a colleague of Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist took me through a whole lecture period on hunger and poverty on themes that I knew I had expressed in my various publications. To utmost surprise they pulled out an old publication of mine on hunger and poverty. Great shock! They agreed with my ideas, except that they wanted the proposed programmes on hunger to hinge on small scale farming whiles I was for large scale.

The rest of the trip took me to Rome at UN-FAO and World Food Programme, and the resultant expectation was that Ghana needed to act to save its children from extreme hunger. By the time I got back to Ghana I had schemed how I would impress then President John Agyekum Kuffuor to accept the idea of establishing the Ghana School feeding programme. I visited the President at his airport residence soon after my return, discussed the idea with him.

To my surprise, President John Agyekum Kuffuor bought into the idea and asked me to prepare a write up on how best to initiate and establish the programme, which he accepted and this was the birth of the Ghana School Feeding Programme. I went on air to announce it the following day.

At this moment I knew nothing about any country effort at establishing a similar programme as part of the UN Hunger Taskforce (UNHTF) programme, perhaps one may call it sheer coincidence but obviously the two could not have been the same!!

FORMATION AND OPERATION

I began by setting up the structures: technical committee of chief or deputy director of all relevant ministries, selected nutritionists and caterers among other required stakeholders

I sent a paper with elaborate descriptions; road map; budget etc. etc. to H.E the president. This was around June 4th and I had lots of discussions with the government thereafter.

The programme started in October 2004, practicalising it, and actually feeding the children at the pilot stage of one primary school per region; expanding it within few months to one school per district.

MY ACHIEVEMENTS

At the time of my exit from office at the executive chairman of the GSFP, the programme fed over 600,000 pupils daily from an initial 2,000 in 4 years, and had provided jobs for hundreds of caterers and market for food sellers.

The programme also won several recognitions and acknowledgements from the Brazilian and Italian governments including a citation by one of the Dutch government representative Ein Horn which sought to commend my personal effort and contribution to the implementation of the programme.

The sum of it all was that, the programme won the hearts and minds of the majority of ordinary Ghanaians, and was overly appreciated by poor and hungry children who found satisfaction in it.

For want of time and space I would like to leave the rest of this aspect to history.

RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS BY AWAL MOHAMMED

· Nana Addo did not lie by stating that President Kuffuor and NPP initiated and established the GSFP

If it’s true that President Rawlings signed the millennium development goals of which the Hunger Project was a part, then Awal Mohammed should rather see how visionless purposeless his NDC government was by not making any country specific effort to establish it until the NPP through my initiation got it underway.

Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo was therefore on point when he gave credit to President Kuffuor and the NPP for its establishment during the NPP’s delivery of the real State of the Nation’s Address.

· Alleged malfeasance against me by Price Water House Coopers

This has been a constant propaganda by the NDC and its lying communications masses despite the obvious evidence that I did no wrong (be it financial or administrative malfeasance). I have on several occasions through various media explained the true state of affairs which has been accepted by well-intended Ghanaians, except the NDC and their propagandist lyres!

Indeed these allegations started from within my own party government when some unscrupulous, selfish and dubious minded persons within the NPP fabricated allegations of malfeasance against me in an effort to get me out of the GSFP.

Confident of no wrong doing I personally invited and opened my doors to the state auditing group; the Auditor Generals department to conduct a thorough audit after which they found me NOT guilty of any financial malpractice, fraudulent activity, embezzlement or whatever (April 2009 Auditor General’s Report).

In short, all the noises, allegation of fraud, false accusations and witch hunting had been done without any foundation of truth. I WAS TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY EXONERATED!

Unsatisfied, my detractors some of whom wielded strong powers in government commissioned another audit through the international audit firm-Price Water House Coopers (which Awal referred to) and I dare say again that they did not find me guilty of any wrong doing of any sort and so Awal’s assertion cannot be correct in any way. I therefore dare this so called NDC communicator to either come out with the evidence or forever shut up! Else……. I will not rule out the option of seeking legal redress in court to clear my hard won reputation.

Indeed the findings of Price Water House rather found some two officers culpable of malfeasance in their respective offices, and that obviously could not be attributed to me.

To further prove my innocence I sued the state in another famous suit; Dr. KWAME AMOAKO TUFFUOR VERSUS ATTORNEY GENERAL (THE SUPERIOR COURT JUDICATURE IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE FAST TRACK DIVISION ACCRA-A.D 2O11) Suit number AHR 29 / 2011.

Among the several claims, I challenged the Presidency for sacking me without any wrong doing and for non-payment of salary arrears from 2004-2008 and damages for my destroyed reputation, hurt integrity and personal anguish.

In my personal thought, I was inherently and inadvertently providing an opportunity for the state to prove their so called malfeasance against me, which they together with some NDC’S had trumpeted, for the entire world to see and hear the truth.

At the end of the trial, I won against the state again thus cementing my integrity and safeguarding my image as an honest and incorruptible personality whose reputation remains unblemished.

It is worth noting that, as at today, the STATE HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO PAY me the judgement debt awarded by the Court for wrongful dismissal.

I am therefore able to conclude that the Presidency’s dismissal was nothing but A PRIVATE POLITICAL DECISION.

CONCLUSION

From the foregoing, it obvious and empirically clear that, the NPP through my initiation gave birth to the GSFP; a credit no one can deny us for.

It is also unambiguous that I Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffuor did no wrong and all records to that effect are of public knowledge for any doubting Thomas to access. So to Awal Mohammed and his NDC propagandist, this is the real truth and I dare anyone with a contrary fact to prove it or forever learn to speak this truth!

Thank You