During the lockdown in parts of Ghana some weeks ago, there were numerous reports accusing the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) of sharing hot meals meant for vulnerable persons along political party lines.

Dr Zenator Rawlings a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) who is also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Korle Klottey accused the government of being biased in the distribution of food to the target audience.

She alleged that hungry women and children were asked to show their party cards before being given food, and describing the act as unacceptable, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic is no respecter of party colours.

However, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cynthia Mamle Morrison has revealed on Happy 98.9 FM that it was impossible for that to have happened as staff of NADMO are predominantly members of the opposition, NDC.

In an interview on the Happy Morning Show, the minister revealed that the NDC made its executives and members permanent staff of NADMO before leaving office and only a few members of the New Patriotic Party are in the helm of affairs at the organization. “Unlike the school feeding programme where both parties change caterers when we come to power, it is not same at NADMO because there are a lot of card bearing members of the NDC working there. So how will they ignore their party people when sharing food?” she asked.

She noted that the President is an all-inclusive individual and does not do his work along party lines. “When you tell the president that staff at NADMO are mostly NDC members, he will only tell you they are all Ghanaians.”

She assumed that the transactional demand of party card for food ‘could’ have only happened with the free distribution of food by parliamentarians.