Comment: God’s Tobinco condoms

When I was a wee lad, condoms came in a pack of six, in different colors and scents. For a few pesewas, I forget the exact amount now, you could get a cocktail of six and the teenage prophylactic world was such a simple one to navigate. In those days you didn’t just walk to the counter and buy. Deep penetrating, quizzical attendants stared you into lurking behind the colds and Paracetamol sections. If you were unlucky and it was a she, it was easier to ask your father for a pack than to face the revelation that you were contemplating something really evil that night with someone other than her. We got by using older siblings to purchase, and that came with its torturous nonsense when they threatened to tell mama and papa when you got to fighting; as boys do.

And such it was that I grew up knowing that you should check the condom after, to make sure that the wriggly little things had been trapped properly. Many an unplanned parent was created from a miscarriage of condom vigilance.

But it was never about God, prayers and intervention when it “locked”.

In October 2013, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) issued a warning regarding sub-standard Hitman Condoms from India. If you accept FDA’s statement, the largest pharmaceutical distributor, Tobinco should be shut down and all Directors with fiduciary responsibility should be arrested and tried. This has not happened and so we are in a prayer appeal for redress by the ultimate power in our society. Then there is the bizarre feud between The Ministry of Health and the FDA about sub standard “Be Safe” condoms, imported by the MoH from India and quarantined by the FDA. No one has been arrested for this, it was couched as an improper standards procedure matter.

I don’t quite know what to make of the to and fro except it smacks of a cover up of sorts. So what will Tobinco, do after this? If the FDA capitulates, God has won. If they don’t, Opuni reigns. Tough call.

Such it was that this week, God summoned Mr. Yileh Chireh from the Parliamentary select committee on Health from on high and said unto him, “Tobinco is fasting and praying. They are asking for my intervention to restore holes in condoms and bring peace between them, the Food and Drugs Authority and especially their boss, Dr. Stephen Opuni. Descend from the high throne and inform them of my ways. The essence of godliness is procreation and not sperm negation. Go forth and explain this act to those who flout the laws of the land in my image”.

And Yileh Chireh came down from Parliament House in the form of radio programs to God’s chosen people and said many things and yet nothing. After talking on the airwaves all evening on various stations, he indicated that it would be best if nothing was discussed in public, because doing so would only inform the people more and that is not good, even if it is God’s wish.

And the people who work for Tobinco prayed and fasted for the FDA devil to be cast down and their sustenance be weakened so we can continue to perpetuate unfounded illegality.

Which is what we do very well these days, like SSNIT attempting a sleight of inadequacy to sell Merchant Bank off to a group of persons we know. According to Dr. Kofi Wampah, our Central Bank Governor, it is not about a profitable transaction. Due diligence on First Rand, one of the largest banks in Africa, took eighteen months. With Fortiz, we needed just two months. They are Ghanaians, we know them and we are sure of their wealth. The fact that they have no previous banking experience is not of consequence, neither is the fact that SSNIT has a very poor record of preserving our assets.

If we need a litany here is a short list of sixteen cases investigated by then Serious Fraud Office (SFO) now EOCO since 2002 for poor or fraudulent investments made by SSNIT, some still pending.

Obotan Developers Ltd., Wahome Steel, Golden Beach Hotels, Oguaa Hotels Ltd., BMK Particle Board, Bridal Trust International Paints, Aluworks shares, SIAT Ghana Ltd., SSB Bank shares sale, Bessblock, Fidan Construction, Kumasi Catering Rest House, Legon Student’s Hostel Project, Vector Morrison Ghana Ltd., Ghana Health Care, City and Country Waste and Ambassador Hotel. There is more, which we can get into when it is more appropriate.

With such a track record, why would I and why would you trust any moves by SSNIT when it comes to protecting and investing our money?

SSNIT is forgetting that it is a custodian of contributor funds. The contributions do not belong to the Government. This has to be a case of legal interpretation and I am looking forward to a filing in the courts on this matter. If it was done right, SSNIT should be asking Contributors’ permission to do this deal, especially after they watched the bank run into the ground. I love K. B. Asante’s foray into the matter, lets hope more join the bandwagon.

Did former GNPC CEO , Tsatsu Tsikata sit there and insult Former President Kuffuor with the tacit connivance of the Sole Commissioner on judgment debts, Justice Apau? Did he denigrate JAK to the level of a debt collector and get away with it? Throughout his stay in the chair, no one reminded him that the only reason why the taxpayer is in hock to the tune of $47 million is because he used our money as “cha-cha” to pamper his self-defined intellectual ego.

Had he not gambled in the murky ebb and flow of the waters of hedging, none of this debt would have come up. This time his self-importance eclipsed his gratitude and as former MP for Asokwa, Kofi Jumah bitterly blamed the former president for granting him a pardon, many a breath was held back as Ghanaians wondered wither our cultural respect for age and position.

Member of JOSPONG Group, Subah Infosystems’ door to further wealth was left ajar by “still at post” Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) boss George Kuntu Blankson. Did he not hear that Subah was managing what looked like fraud? He actually wrote to Mobile Operators to open the floodgates for Subah. Wassup with that Kuntu? Shouldn’t you be wary of possible criminality?

Should Government not have a blacklist for fraudulent contractors? Where was he when the World Bank cited Zoom Lion for bribery in Liberia? What is going on? This is a swear word moment, my mind is twitching; and my fingers are tied by civil principles.

Ah, Odartey Lamptey and his wife matter. Should we be discussing who fathered his three kids on the airwaves? Sorry chap, but we won the WAFU cup this past week and we have to forge ahead. In your day, you did us proud.

Ghana, Aha a ye de papa. Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come!