School Feeding cook suspended over alleged poisoned corn-dough

The Bono Regional Secretariat of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has suspended a local cook, following the discovery of a quantity of poisoned corn-dough in her house.

Mrs. Doris Asomah, the Bono Regional Coordinator of GSFP, has since directed caterers under the programme to ensure cooks contracted for the programme kept their food items and prepared meals in the beneficiary schools, instead of cooking them from their homes.

The chiefs and people of the Wawasua farming community allegedly woke up on Friday October 6, 2023, to discover a quantity of poisoned corn-dough in the house of the local cook contracted to prepare and provide meals at the Wawasua Municipal Assembly Basic School in the Sunyani Municipality.

Nana Aben Sumunkum, the Chief of Wawasua, confirmed the story to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Wawasua and, therefore, called on the Police to investigate the matter.

The GNA learnt that the cook had since insisted the “bloated” corn-dough, which had been sent for further examination was only meant for family use, and not for the GSFP.

In an interview with the media, Mrs. Asomah described the incident as “unfortunate”, saying the cook involved in the matter had since been suspended as investigations continued.

She explained the programme did not allow caterers and their cooks to prepare meals from their homes, warning that those who flouted the directive would be sanctioned accordingly.

Mrs. Asomah said her office had officially written to inform the National Secretariat of the GSFP about the incident and called on the Wawasua community and the affected school to cooperate, as the secretariat resolved the matter.