“It takes a full stomach to feed the mind” is the maxim on which the Namibia School Feeding Programme (NSFP) is premised.

But from the poor quality maize meal to illegal awarding or extension of tenders, a performance audit report by the Auditor General (AG) lifts the lid on how Namibia’s school feeding programme is being mismanaged.

The report, which covered the 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years, was submitted to the National Assembly for discussion recently.

In it, AG Junias Kandjeke raises serious issues, which if left unattended pose health risks to school-going children who depend solely on the programme for their nutritional needs, while those running it into the ground will continue doing so with impunity.

MOTIVATION

All in all, Kandjeke’s aim was to assess if the education ministry has put measures in place to address the efficient implementation of the NSFP.

The fact that some learners stop attending class or drop out of school because of hunger, motivated the AG’s office to conduct an audit to mitigate this unfortunate situation.

Superior among the AG’s findings is that the three tenders under the NSFP to public schools were renewed seven times consecutively since the expiration of their contracts in 2017.

This is a contravention of the laws and procedures governing State tenders.

“The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MoEAC) does not have mechanisms in place to ensure the indefinite extension of tenders does not affect the delivery of maize blend to schools,” Kandjeke says in the report.

Part of the problem is the lengthy and cumbersome approval process of tender contracts by the Central Procurement Board of Namibia.

It was recommended that MoEAC devise mechanisms and implement measures to assess the performance of the service providers before their tender contracts are extended in order to hold them to account.

HEALTH HAZARDS

Kandjeke adds: “MoEAC did not put measures in place to ensure that all regions adhere to the regulations concerning the cleanliness, sanitation, fumigation, health and safety of the service providers’ warehouses.”

This situation, the AG said, exposes school-going children from impoverished backgrounds to serious health hazards.

As if this was not enough, “These tenders were extended without assessing the performance of service providers… No evidence was provided with regard to protein blend quality as no sample testing was conducted.”

The quality of maize blend was a thorny issue for the auditors as the ministry failed to conduct any tests to ascertain its composition in terms of ingredients to determine compliance to the specifications in the tender contracts and Government Gazette No. 845 of 14 May 1994.

“The audit found that there were discrepancies between maize blend stock received in relation to stock ordered, with the most significant being an undersupply of 149 maize blend bags in Term 1 of 2019 for Khomas.”

The auditors also noticed that the distribution of maize from warehouses was done on a term basis.

Despite this, delays in the delivery to schools ranging from one to nine weeks were observed.

“Thus, school learners did not always receive the meal,” Kandjeke laments.

In the meantime, oversight is not maintained, there are no external controls and periodic checks and monitoring are not conducted.

THE STOMACH

Designed to reduce hunger and improve nutrition, the school feeding initiative is a globally recognised social protection tool that not only helps keep children in the system, it also reduces financial pressure on parents by allowing them to use the little they earn on other pressing needs.

“NSFP is guided by a policy which strives to contribute to equitable access, quality learning and education for all children in Namibia,” reads a section of the report.

Under the NSFP, food items added to porridge has evolved over the years.

Currently, the meal consists of a maize blend composed of non-sifted yellow or white maize meal (63 per cent), protein blend (25 per cent), sugar (10.8 per cent) and iodised salt (1.2 per cent).

The protein blend continues to be soya-based and vegetable oil has been eliminated.

THE NUMBERS

The programme has reached over 330 000 learners in primary schools and approximately 1 400 schools in all 14 regions.

A review of 216 schools by the World Food Programme in 52 low and middle-income countries revealed that school feeding programmes had a positive impact on enrolment, attendance rates and improve the nutrition status, health and cognitive development of school children.

Due to the scarcity of resources, three regions (Khomas, Ohangwena and Kavango East) were visited for fieldwork. This decision was based on vulnerability due to high levels of poverty as Kavango East accounts for 21 per cent of total poverty in Namibia. Ohangwena and Khomas account for 15 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.

“Therefore, the selected beneficiary schools in the selected regions represent the whole country,” the auditors justified.

During the period under review, the government spent N.dollars 255 million on the NSFP.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency