Free shoes for Ghanaian children

The government of Ghana is introducing a programme to supply free sandals and shoes to schoolchildren using the country’s Defence Industrial Holding Company (DIHOC) Footwear Division as the main production centre. This project will complement the country’s free school uniform scheme which has been running for about five years. President John Mahama has instructed the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Trade and Industry to establish the programme as soon as possible.

While on a familiarisation visit to the DIHOC factory in the Ashanti region, Mr Mahama said that although the factory may not be able to meet the immediate requirement, future expansion would make the company equal to the task.

In 2013, the government asked the Ghanaian Armed Forces to take over the shoe factory, which had became defunct in the early 1990s. Manufacturing processes were revived, and the facility currently produces military boots.

President Mahama said he was impressed with the injection of life into the company. He reported that Ghana’s Immigration Service had also placed orders for the factory to produce footwear for its personnel. The factory reportedly provides employment for about 200 members of staff, and hopes have been expressed that more workers would be added as the expansion programme proceeded.

Photograph shows President John Mahama of Ghana.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 3 of the June 2014 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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