Apologies to the children if you can’t give them the cocoa drink you promised – Akufo- Addo told

TV3’s broadcaster and NewDay host, Mr Johnnie Beresford Hughes has asked the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo –Addo to apologize to Ghanaian children if he cannot provide them the one cocoa drink a day he promised.

Mr Hughes made the call on Johnnie’s Bite aired on TV3 NewDay on Tuesday, February 8, monitored by GhanaPlus.com.

“This morning on behalf of all the children, I want to ask a simple question, where is the cocoa drink? Mr President! You promise your children. They saw you as their father figure; they saw you as their grandfather. May it not be said that you deceived the children sir.  Because you said that you going to give them cocoa drink and you said that going to make sure that the consumption of cocoa on the local market goes up. You said it yourself no one held a gun to your head sir,” Johnnie Hughes said on the programme monitored by GhanaPlus.com.

“Now, the children are asking where the cocoa drinks are? May be you can’t hear their voices that why am amplifying it for you.  Where is the cocoa drink? and I will ask the Agric Minister the same, because he is responsible for planting in this country so where is the cocoa drink ?. School Feeding Coordinator, where is the cocoa drink?”.

Mr Hughes noted the president made the promise at his own will hence it incumbent on him to fulfill it or apologies to the children.

“So this morning, we are asking where is the one people, one cocoa drink that we promise the children. This is it . It is a promise you made to them so Mr President, may be you have forgotten, am just reminding you that give the children their cocoa drink, if you can’t give them their cocoa drink, apologies to them and tell them i promise you couldn’t deliver because it is not nice that you promise children, your grand children that you give them cocoa drink and you don’t give them the cocoa drink, “he noted.

Nana Addo promises one-pupil, one chocolate/ cocoa drink

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in 2017 indicated that as part of effort to promote local consumption of cocoa products in the country, his administration will provide for public school pupils a free chocolate or a cocoa drink a day.

……..It is for this reason that the Ministry of Agriculture through COCOBOD, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection through the school feeding programme, and the Ministry of Education through the Ghana Education Service, are to ensure the sustained provision of cocoa beverages and chocolates to school children from primary school to secondary level,” President Akufo-Addo said at the programme which coincided with the 70^th anniversary celebration of the Ghana Cocoa Board.

“….. our target is to provide every Ghanaian student with a bar of chocolate or cocoa beverage each day whilst in school”.

This he said “has been given the needed impetus by some manufacturing companies who have agreed to support the programme”.

The project was to be sponsored by the Ghana Cocoa Board, supervise by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, implemented by the Ghana School Feeding Programme and started in schools within selected cocoa growing district in the country by September 20, 2019.

However, some two years down the lane, the project expected to benefit some one million pupils of public kindergarten and primary schools is yet to be implemented.

Source: GhanaPlus.com