FDB Boss demands sex for certification of drug?

A 45-yearold herbalist, Maame Semanhyia has accused the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Stephen Opuni of allegedly harassing her and her outfit because she did not yield to his sexual advances.

The married woman and mother of five told the Daily Guide newspaper at her Kasoa residence in the Central Region yesterday that she was invited by the FDB on August 15 over the registration of her herbal medicine. When she honoured the invitation on the said date, the FDB boss subtly brought the police to arrest her. She was detained in the cells of the CID headquarters until the next day and was charged GH20,000 as punitive measures against her for failing to register her products with the Board.

After negotiations, the amount was reduced to GH10,000 which she paid on the spot for her freedom. She claimed that ever since the incident, she had not known peace, although she had tendered in her application for the registration of all her 14 products, only two out of the 14 were certified while the rest are awaiting examination.

Maame Semanhyia said she was therefore surprised that after a short while, the FDB was finding faults with her in order to run her business down. “If Opuni’s wife buys pepper to prepare food for him without FDBs certificating then God should question Opuni because pepper is also herbs. Amidst tears, Semanhyia rained curses on the FDB, stressing that it was because she refused to satisfy Dr. Opuni’s sexual desires that he sought to disgrace her by banning her herbal products, thereby running her clinic down.

She however maintained that all her 14 products had been duly registered with the Centre for Scientific Research and Plant Medicine at Mampong Akuapem. Earlier, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Traditional Healers, Oscar Asamoah, at a press conference, called on government to intervene on their behalf since the spot fine of the FDB was running the traditional and herbal medicine industry down.

Following the FDBs press statement that some of Semanhyia’s products contained yeast among other toxics, the herbalist had insisted that she had been a target of the FDB. As at press time yesterday, officers of the FDB had stormed the clinic of Semanhyia to seize the said unlicensed products for destruction. When the FDB boss was contacted, he indicated that he would not comment because it was an allegation that Maame Semanhyia would have to prove in court. He however maintained that his outfit would continue to ensure public health and safety no matter the distraction.