Chief of Staff at the Presidency, Akosua Frema Opare, has dismissed allegations about the distribution of expired rice to some senior high schools as a mere narrative aimed at scoring political points.

According to her, the claims are baseless rumors that do not hold any weight regarding the country’s education system.

Her comments come barely a week after the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, alleged that the Free Senior High School Secretariat had distributed 22,000 bags of 50kg of expired rice to various schools.

Mr. Ablakwa claimed the rice had expired, was repackaged, and then distributed to schools. He also revealed that the FDA had fined Lamens, the company allegedly responsible for repackaging and selling the rice to the government, an amount of GH₵100,000.

• Read also: 22,000 bags of alleged ‘expired’ rice were “wholesome” for consumption – Education Ministry

During a press briefing on Monday, November 18, the Minority in Parliament, led by Mr. Ablakwa, called for the arrest of the Chief Executive Officer and other directors of Lamens.

However, speaking to JoyNews, the Chief of Staff urged the public to take the allegations with a pinch of salt.

“You know it is not true, so please, let us focus on things that move this country forward. I think this is our problem. We have good things. Look at what I've just seen. That should be your focus. How you advance the Ghanaian child, how you improve your opportunities so they become good citizens. Propaganda and rumor-mongering has no place in education, as a nation,” she added.

She said this on the sidelines of the opening session of this year’s National Education Week by the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, says the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) declared the 22,000 bags of supposed expired rice as wholesome for consumption.

In an interview on Joy News after the press briefing by NDC MPs, Mr Kwarteng clarified that the rice had not expired, despite the MP's continued claims. He explained that the FDA did not fine Lamens for distributing unwholesome food, but rather for failing to obtain FDA approval before repackaging the rice.

“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 further explained that the "best before" date on the rice was December 2023. However, the rice importers [Lamens] had requested an extension of the expiry date from the FDA but proceeded with repackaging before receiving approval.

According to the PRO, the FDA later fined the company for proceeding with the repackaging without the necessary permit.

He argued that the MP’s claim that expired food was distributed was unfounded, as the FDA did not declare the rice as expired at the time of repackaging.

“The FDA did not fine Lamens for unwholesome food. The best-before date was apparently extended, but what they were fined for was the fact that they didn’t get approval for the repackaging,” he said.

"Who would fine an agency just GH₵100,000 for supplying 22,000 bags of unwholesome food? Who, even in the Ministry of Education, would approve the distribution of 22,000 bags of unwholesome rice to schools across Ghana? Would the Minister of Education sit there and say that 22,000 bags of rice should be distributed to schools, knowing they were unwholesome, and we would all just sit there and clap over it?" he quizzed.

Mr Kwarteng then accused Mr Ablakwa of pursuing an "agenda to create a needless alarm."