Private School Included In Wa School Feeding?

�As Relatives of regional Coordinator Clear Cheques for Commission Ancilla Play House, a private nursery school situated in the Wa West District in the Upper West Region of Ghana, for some unexplained reasons can be found in the list of the schools benefiting from the feeding programme in the District. It is not that there are no more public schools to benefit from the programme in the district therefore the private school had to be slotted into it; on the contrary, there are many schools which are yearning and struggling to be included in the programme. Knowing perfectly well that the programme is tailored to benefit only public schools in the country, no one, even the Coordinating Director of the Assembly could tell whose action made a private school to benefit from the programme when The New Crusading GUIDE visited the District last week. In fact, it was clearly evident from interactions with officials that the assembly had no knowledge about the status of Ancilla until this paper first published a story on it last month. However, a source close to the school who refused to be named, told The New Crusading GUIDE that the children were fed with money paid by parents and not funds from the school feeding programme kitty. Meanwhile, Ancilla is captured on the list of schools which are benefitting from the school feeding in the District. The Budget Officer of the Assembly told this reporter that one Joyce Saalidong was the one who usually clears the school feeding cheque on behalf of the school to . Since the source close to Ancilla insists that the school was not benefiting from the school feeding program, then whereabouts of the cheques allegedly cleared by Joyce remains unknown. The New Crusading GUIDE met the absence of the Headmistress when this reporter visited the school. Unfortunately, all attempts to reach her on her cell phone proved futile. A further probe into the matter discovered that the said Joyce is a niece to the Regional Coordinator of the programme, Madam Hamza. �She is just a teacher at a village nearby and has no connection to the programme at all,� yet collects cheques on their behalf, residents who knew Joyce explained. A further probe revealed that many of the people who were sent to pick up cheques were in one way or the other related to Madam Hamza, the Regional Coordinator of the school feeding programme. Cynthia Latif, who happens to be a teacher at T.I Ahmadiya and a wife to the son of Cecilia Hamza clears the cheque for two nursery schools in the region all bearing the names Kaleo whiles a former maid of hers by name Fatima clears the ones of Fongo primary and Kindergarten, according to the residents. The name Rukia popped up as the person who clears the cheque for T.I Ahmadiya Primary B whiles Burirah Issaku, a neighbor and friend of Cecilia Hamza clears the cheque for Eggu School. Satah who according to natives of the town also stays in the same area with Cecilia Hamza has Kataa Primary and Kindergarten as the schools she clears the cheque for. The Regional Coordinator was also cited to be responsible for the clearing of cheques for Subuili Primary and Kindergarten. It was further revealed that Madam Cecilia Hamza is often seen going around sharing food stuffs to schools in a Toyota Hilux pickup with the registration number ER 3882-11. During the interaction, The Budget Officer told The New Crusading GUIDE that, the first story by the paper has made the Assembly to hold on to the cheques of Ancilla play house as well as Fongo Primary and Kindergarten schools for further probing. Nevertheless an unconfirmed report received just before we went to press indicated that the said cheques had been cleared. The Minister for the Upper West Region, Dr. Epraim Ave Nsoh, in an interview in Accra last Friday, disclosed that after reading the first publication by this paper on the same subject, he invited Madam Hamza for her to clarify the issues but he was not satisfied with the answers. �I am not leaving it to chance, I will have them (Assembly) get to the bottom of the whole issue and know exactly what the situation is�, the Minister assured.