Ernest Akosah, Deputy Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Education, has claimed that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) declared the 22,000 bags of allegedly expired rice delivered to secondary schools across the country as safe to consume.
According to him, the claims made by the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, were false and purely political.
The MP has alleged that the Free Senior High School Secretariat had distributed 22,000 bags of 50 kg of expired rice to various schools.
The lawmaker further claimed that the rice had expired but was repackaged and distributed to the schools.
He also noted that the FDA had fined Lamens, the company that allegedly repackaged the expired rice and sold it to the government, an amount of GH₵100,000.
But Mr. Akosah, in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, indicated that the rice had not expired.
He also clarified that the FDA did not fine Lamens for distributing unwholesome food but rather for failing to obtain FDA approval before repackaging the rice.
“The claims are purely false and meant to raise needless alarm for a political agenda. We have not distributed expired food to our secondary schools. The claims are unfounded. It is unfortunate that we allow politics to destroy us. We have politicised issues for our own political interests. It is unfortunate. The best before” date on the rice was December 2023. However, the rice importers [Lamens] had requested an extension of the expiry date from the FDA but proceeded with repackaging before receiving approval.
The company was penalised for failing to obtain approval for the repackaging of the goods. It is unrelated to the product’s expiration date. The food was fit for use or eating. No government will provide our students with expired food. We were never given expired food as pupils. It is absurd and unethical. It is an election year, and certain political actors are attempting to participate in this political agenda. What are they hoping to achieve? “It is for political reasons.”
The food was fit for purpose. Nobody in his or her right senses will feed our senior high school students with expired food. How would the government distribute 22,000 bags of unwholesome rice to schools across Ghana? This is purely a lie orchestrated by Okudzeto Ablakwa for political purposes.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
