The Minority in Parliament has demanded the arrest and prosecution of directors of Lamens Investment Africa Limited and sanctions against the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) over allegations of distributing expired rice to Senior High Schools (SHSs) across Ghana.
According to North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Lamens Investment and NAFCO allegedly conspired to distribute 22,000 bags of expired and repackaged rice to SHSs. He further claimed that despite being flagged by the Auditor General in 2021 for supplying unwholesome food items, Lamens Ventures continued to operate without accountability.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, November 18, 2024, the Minority expressed outrage, stating:
“The NDC Caucus demands the immediate arrest and prosecution of the directors of Lamens Investments Africa Limited. The board and management of the National Food Buffer Stock Company must be sanctioned for allowing their storage facilities to be used for this egregious act and for operating unregistered facilities nationwide. Such recklessness, which sacrifices the health of our students for corrupt transactions, must not go unpunished.”
The Minority also called for a thorough investigation into the Ministry of Education’s involvement, accusing its officials of pressuring the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to halt its probe into the matter.
Additionally, the caucus urged key stakeholders such as the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), teacher unions, and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) to advocate against the supply of expired and repackaged food items to schools.
“The Ministry of Education must be probed for its conduct in this despicable affair — not only for supervising this rot which severely endangers the health of SHS students but also for their reported role as alleged by FDA officials that they piled undue pressure to get the FDA to back off. CHASS, teacher unions, PTAs and all Ghanaians must insist that no Senior High School should ever again be made to receive food items which have been criminally re-packaged and do not have expiry dates.
“Our side in respective parliamentary committees has agreed to initiate inquiries into this atrocious affair. We shall not rest until justice is done in this matter. Our SHS students must never be subjected to this unwarranted callousness and heartlessness just because an unscrupulous few seeks to enrich themselves,” the minority caucus.
