By Iddi Yire/Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, Nov 18, GNA – The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Minority has called on the President to set-up an independent commission of inquiry into the re-bagging of 22,000 50kg bags of expired and contaminated Moshosho rice from India by Lamens Investments Africa and the National Food Buffer Stock National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO).
The rice has already been fed to Senior High School (SHS) students.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the NDC Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu and Chairman of the Parliamentary Assurance Committee, who made the call at a press conference on Monday at Parliament House in Accra, also suggested that the Office of the Special Prosecutor could take up the matter for investigations.
The MP recalled that on 20th December 2023, the Ashanti Regional Office of the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) received an alert from a patriotic Ghanaian about a suspicious re-packaging exercise, which had not been authorized by the FDA.
“This unauthorized re-packaging was shockingly being carried out at the storage facility of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) in the Ashanti Region,” he said.
“When FDA officials acted on the alert, it emerged that a similar alert had been received by the Ashanti Regional Police Command and the command had promptly moved in to close the storage facility.”
He said the FDA and the Ashanti Regional Police Command then commenced investigations into the matter, and that 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.
He said the report indicated that Moshosho Rice (25 per cent broken white rice) with registration number FDA/Ce 20-701 was imported by Lamens Investments Africa Limited and that the Notify Party was the National Food Buffer Stock Company.
Mr Ablakwa said the rice was exported from India by Satya Balajee Rice Industries PVT Ltd, adding that in all 33,000 bags of 50kg bags of rice were imported.
He said 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 known as Lynbrok.
Mr Ablakwa said 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.”
He said 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.
He noted that the country of origin (India) was also changed to Ghana concealing the true identity of the rice and creating a false narrative that Buffer Stock and the Free SHS Secretariat were distributing Made in Ghana rice.
He said this illegal re-packaging was carried out without FDA’s approval as required by law, and that the National Food Buffer Stock storage facility had neither been licensed for storage or re-packaging contrary to the Public Health Act, 2012 (Act 851).
He questioned why the Ministry of Education was at the forefront defending Lamens Investments Africa, while the Company had been silent since the scandal broke out.
He called for the arrest and prosecution of directors of Lamens Investment Africa Limited and the sanctioning of the Board and Management of the National Food Buffer Stock Company.
GNA