Deputy Education Minister denies meeting FDA over expired rice supplied to SHSs

Deputy Minister of Education, Reverend Ntim Fordjour has denied holding any meeting with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) over the distribution of 22,000 expired bags of rice to second-cycle school students across the country.

The Reverend Minister’s denial comes after former Education Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said he had a crunch meeting with the FDA before the expired bags of rice were supplied to the various second-cycle schools.

The North Tongu Member of Parliament, Mr Ablakwa claimed that the Deputy Minister of Education received the expired foods from buffer stock and met with the FDA but failed to act on it as the head of the Education sector.

“I wish to state categorically that the FDA did not have a meeting with me on the expired foods, whether they were at the storehouses of schools or on the way to schools. There were no instances like that or any engagement that has gotten to my notice,” Ntim said reacting to Ablakwa’s allegation.

The Assin South Member of Parliament urged Ghanaians to stay calm and wait for the results of the ongoing investigations into the claim of expired rice supplied to government second-cycle schools before linking his name to the alleged scandal.

His assurance comes after Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, claims 22,000 bags of expired and repackaged rice were distributed to Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country in February this year.

In an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, 14th November, he said the National Food Buffer Stock Company conspired with a company known as Lamens Investments Africa Limited to carry out the disservice.

“Can you believe that, before the test results arrived from the FDA in Accra on 6th February, an instruction came from above that the expired, contaminated rice should be distributed to the schools? So, as we speak, all 22,000 bags of rice that the police sought to confiscate have been sent to the schools,” Mr Ablakwa said in the interview.

The former Minister of Education noted that the rice was repackaged into locally made sacks which bore ‘ECOWAS’ and ‘Made in Ghana rice’, however, there were no expiry dates written on them.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa added that the rice was distributed to various schools before receiving crucial clearance from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).