The member of parliament for the North Tongu Constituency Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa has exposed how 15,000 expired 50kg bags of rice were re-packaged to be delivered to Senior High Schools across the country to feed students.
According to the member of parliament, Hon. Ablakwa, a parliamentary oversight has uncovered a grand callous, dangerous, murderous, and corrupt scheme that puts the health of Senior High School students in extreme jeopardy.
In a long write-up supported with documents the North Tongu MP, revealed that a crony company was allowed to criminally re-package over 15,000 50kg bags of expired and contaminated rice into different 50kg bags without expiry dates under the full protection of NPP political heavyweights.
Part of his write-up reads, “This expired and contaminated rice was then delivered to Senior High Schools across the country and fed to students”.
“On 20th December 2023, the Ashanti Regional Office of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) received an alert from a patriotic Ghanaian about a suspicious re-packaging exercise which had not been authorized by the FDA”, he detailed.
According to Hon. Ablakwa, the unauthorized re-packaging was shockingly being carried out at the storage facility of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) in the Ashanti Region.
The FDA officials and Ashanti Regional Police Command promptly moved in to close the storage facility.
He further added, “The Ashanti Regional FDA’s investigations revealed the following damning findings as contained in an intercepted report signed by its Ashanti Regional Head, John Laryea Odai-Tettey”.
According to Ablakwa’s write-up on X, the Moshosho rice was 25 percent broken and was imported by Lamens Investment Africa Limited from India by Satya Balajee Rice Industries PVT Ltd, in all 33,000 bags of 50kg bags of rice were imported.
The National Food Buffer Stock storage facility in Kumasi received 22,000 bags of 50kg rice by the time of the alert, whilst the remaining 10,000 bags were being kept at a bonded warehouse in Tema.
Ablakwa’s write-up added, “Lamens Investments Africa and National Food Buffer Stock realizing that the best before date for the Moshosho Rice was December 2023 started criminally re-packaging the Moshosho Rice from its original yellow 50kg polypropylene bags into white 50kg polypropylene bags with the inscription “CEDAO ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve.”
“Whilst the best before date on the original Moshosho Rice packaging was December 2023, there was no date on the new bags being used for the re-packaging. This contravenes the General Labelling Regulation, LI 1541”.
The member of parliament further revealed that the country of origin (India) was also changed to Ghana concealing the identity of the rice and creating a false narrative that Buffer Stock and the Free SHS Secretariat were distributing Made-in-Ghana rice.
All this was being carried out on the blind side of the FDA’s approval and requirement by law.
Lamens Investments Africa Ltd has admitted its wrongdoing and agreed to pay an administrative fine of GHS100,000.00 to the FDA.
Okudzeto Ablawka further added that Lamens after paying a fine of 50,000 has since refused to pay the remaining fine.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the National Food Buffer Stock Company Alhaji Hanan Abdul-Wahab was appointed by President Akufo-Addo, and he is also the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Pusiga Constituency, with the Board of the National Food Buffer Stock Company chaired by the NPP’s National Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye.
See his post below:
MONEY OVER LIVES — WHEN CALLOUSNESS, UNBRIDLED GREED AND UNCONTROLLABLE CORRUPTION COMBINE TO RISK THE LIVES OF GHANA’S SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Painstaking parliamentary oversight has uncovered a grand callous, dangerous, murderous and corrupt scheme that puts the health of… pic.twitter.com/cW7JPWhWd0
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) November 13, 2024
