Former Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has claimed that former President Akufo-Addo instructed her to audit the School Feeding Programme but later distanced himself when the findings exposed widespread corruption.
Speaking on Movement Radio, Adwoa Safo revealed that Akufo-Addo personally tasked her with conducting the audit immediately after her appointment as Minister, even before she received funds to run the ministry.
“The President wanted to understand how the funds were being used, so he asked me to audit the School Feeding Programme right after my appointment,” she stated.
During her investigation, she repeatedly invited a key figure involved in the programme for questioning, but the person refused to appear. Instead, she later received a message questioning why she was trying to “destroy” someone’s connections in government.
“I invited one of the women multiple times, but she ignored my requests. Later, she sent a message asking why I was trying to damage her government ties. I told her I was simply doing my job,” Adwoa Safo recounted.
Despite the resistance, she proceeded with the audit and submitted her findings to Cabinet, discovering that much of the corruption was concentrated in the Central Region. She then forwarded the report to the Presidency. However, following public backlash over the revelations, Akufo-Addo withdrew his support.
“After the backlash, the President said he never instructed me to conduct the audit and even asked me to shelve it. That’s when my problems began,” she disclosed.
She further alleged that the same individual who had refused to appear before her later suggested they collaborate to include ghost schools in the programme, inflating allocations for personal gain.
When asked whether she had personal issues with Akufo-Addo, Adwoa Safo dismissed the idea.
“He was the one who appointed me. If he later decided he was no longer interested in the audit, there wasn’t much I could do,” she said.
She has since called on President John Mahama to launch an investigation into the School Feeding Programme, insisting that without accountability, corruption in the initiative will continue.
