Frema Osei Opare, Chief of Staff, has discussed the ongoing controversy over the purportedly repackaged outdated rice that was sent to certain Senior High Schools.
According to her, the problem is “untrue and propaganda,” which shouldn’t be permitted in the educational system.
On Monday, November 18, she made this remark while speaking with Prince Kudogah of JoyNews on the occasion of the National Education Book launch.
“You know it is not true, so let us focus on things that move this country forward… propaganda and rumour-mongering have no place in education,” she said.
This comes after Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, made accusations that 22,000 bags of repackaged and outdated rice were given to different SHSs throughout the nation.
In February of this year, he claimed, the consignment was distributed via the Free Senior High School Secretariat.
The North Tongu lawmaker, who is also the chair of Parliament’s Assurances Committee, claimed his inquiry, which was started in response to a tip, showed that the crime was intentional.
During a press briefing on Monday, November 18, the NDC Caucus called for the directors of Lamens Investments Africa, the company suspected of repackaging and supplying some Senior High Schools with expired rice, to be arrested and prosecuted immediately.
“The NDC Caucus demands the immediate arrest and prosecution of the directors of Lamens Investments Africa Limited, Mr Agyefi Mensah and Simon Agyei – those two directors. Simon Agyei at the time of the arrest was there supervising the illegal operations at the Buffer Stock company in Kumasi before the order came from above that he should be released. We demand their re-arrest and prosecution,” he said.
In addition, the Caucus demanded that the National Food Buffer Stock Company, whose facilities were purportedly used to store the outdated rice, be investigated. The group also criticised the company for running unregistered storage facilities and called for punishment against its management and board.
“Such recklessness which sacrifices the health of our students for corrupt transactions must not go unpunished,” he added.
They also called for an investigation into the Ministry of Education, claiming that it was pressuring the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to ignore the case’s regulatory violations.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), claims that the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has deemed the rice that was given to schools to be safe to eat.
Despite the MP’s persistent assertions, Mr. Kwarteng emphasised that the rice had not gone bad. He clarified that Lamens was fined by the FDA for not getting FDA approval before repackaging the rice, not for distributing unwholesome food.
“For the record, Lamens was fined for not getting authorisation for the repackaging of the food. It has nothing to do with the declaration of the wholesomeness of the food,” he said.
Mr. Kwarteng went on to say that the rice’s “best before” date was December 2023. But before getting approval, the rice importers [Lamens] repackaged the product after asking the FDA for an extension of the expiration date.
Source: myjoyonline.com