Education Minister to Okudjeto Ablakwa: Your claims about rice supplied to schools “false”

The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Adu Twum has refuted and brought clarity to allegations made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to the effect that secondary schools in the country were supplied with expired rice procured by the National Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) from Lamens Ventures.

False claims

Okudjeto Ablakwa in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, 13 November 2024 alleged that “an intercepted internal memo from the Ashanti Regional FDA dated 29 December 2023, reveals that initially, the FDA intended to fine Lamens Investments GHS150,000.00; dispose the 15,000 bags which had been re-packaged at the time of the alert, and issue an immediate desist order to stop further re-packaging, however, intense political pressure thwarted the FDA’s original plans.”

He further claimed that “the Ashanti Regional Police Command in an intercepted letter dated 21 December 2023, signed by J.J. Boye, Superintendent/Crime/Ashanti wrote to the Ashanti Regional FDA Director requesting assistance in conducting an examination of the re-packaged rice.

“Shockingly, even before the test results would arrive from FDA-Accra, a reckless order came from above that the re-packaged rice be distributed to Senior High Schools. The FDA eventually submitted the test results — also known as a certificate of analysis on the 6th of February, 2024.

“Irrefutable investigations show that the expired and contaminated re-packaged bags of rice were already distributed to schools on 2 February 2024 — some four days prior. If authorities had waited for the FDA test results, the re-packaged Moshosho rice would have all been destroyed and not fed to our SHS students,” Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa claimed in his X post.

Due diligence

However, the Education Minister, Yaw Adu Twum in response to an inquiry on the matter by Asaase News pointed out that “the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) engaged Lamens Ventures to procure rice for distribution to students under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme “a total of 11,000 metric tons of rice was imported, with an initial expiry date of December 2023.”

The education minister further stated that “by the last quarter of 2023, NAFCO still had a portion of this stock yet to be supplied to schools and “on the advice of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Lamens Ventures followed the necessary protocols to have the rice re-tested in India, its country of origin.

“The re-testing was to ascertain the possibility of extending the rice’s shelf life by an additional year, to December 2024. Following further evaluations and verifications, the FDA granted a temporary extension of the rice’s “Best Before” date to 30 April 2024, after confirming the product’s continued wholesomeness.

“⁠It is important to note that February 2024 was the last time Lamens distributed this rice to schools through the NAFCO and at the time the rice was deemed wholesome by the FDA, the education minister, Yaw Adu Twum pointed out. ⁠

“To address concerns from schools regarding the rice’s perceived expiry date, Lamens Ventures submitted a formal request to the FDA, dated 9th February 2024, seeking approval to re-bag the remaining stock to reflect the updated shelf life. The rice was certified by the FDA as wholesome for consumption, with its new expiry date extended to April, 2024” the education minister further clarified.

Fit for consumption

In a related development, Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson, for the Ministry of Education in a statement in response to the expired rice claims also indicated that “for purposes of educating, my friend, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, can join me in reviewing this.

“The concepts of expiry dates and best before dates in product labeling are fundamentally different: An expiry date indicates the date after which a food product is no longer safe for consumption. Consuming products past this date poses health risks due to potential spoilage or the breakdown of essential components.

“A best before date, on the other hand, indicates the date until a product is expected to maintain its optimal quality, such as taste, texture, aroma, and nutritional value. While the product may lose some of these qualities after the best-before date, it does not necessarily become unsafe to consume,” Kwasi Kwarteng explained in his post.

“⁠Importantly, it is not illegal to sell or consume food past its best-before date, provided the food remains wholesome and safe. In the case of the rice supplied through NAFCO under the Free SHS program by Lamens, the best-before date was temporarily extended by the FDA after evaluation & verification that the rice was still wholesome and fit for consumption beyond its original date. Nothing untoward happened” Mr Kwarteng further explained.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra