Demanding the arrest of Ghanaian allegedly swindled by Noguchi Memorial is out of place

For the past three days, an audio message supported by what may be said to be a semi-evidence alleging fraudulent practice at a reputable medical research institute in Ghana has been doing rounds on the social media.

A Ghanaian by name Kofi Acheampong, based in the United Kingdom, has placed an audio-recorded message on the WhatsApp alleging how he became a victim to malpractice at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research at the University of Ghana.

While l had been trying to do some search on the authenticity or falsity of his claims before publishing my views on his allegation, all l could hear on the London-based Ghana Hot FM radio station was the condemnation of the alleged victim. Most of the radio phone-in callers were calling for his arrest. The programme presenter was also ordering Kofi Acheampong to come out or else, they would fish him out wherever he is, for arrest. This took place on Saturday, 16 January 2021.

For them, he has tarnished the reputation of the institute, endangered the lives of fellow passengers aboard the British Airways aircraft he travelled on back to London knowing he had tested Covid-19 positive on 12 January 2021. He should rather have been in self-isolation for at least fourteen days, then go back for a second test to confirm he was no longer a carrier of the Covid virus hence no more infectious before travelling back to the United Kingdom.

Much as I agree with the presenter and his callers, l totally disagree with them on their failure to partly blame Noguchi for fraudulently facilitating the travelling by Kofi Acheampong.

Was it Kofi Acheampong who pleaded to be re-issued a second certificate indicating he was Covid-19 negative to permit him to travel back to the UK on 12 January 2021, when he had first been certified to have tested positive for Covid-19 (novel coronavirus)? No, he wasn't, going by his assertion in the audio. A person at Noguchi phoned him up to come back to the Centre, took a bribe from him and re-issued him a second certificate to attest to his negative result test to Covid-19.

When he reached the UK, he immediately went for a test that came out that at the time of the test, he was not infected with Covid-19. Could this not explain that he was probably not infected with Covid-19 when he had the test in Ghana; but because there is a secret ongoing agenda to exploit people to enrich either the institute or certain individuals, they had first to issue him a positive test result, then ask for a second payment to modify the result to negative?

As l am still doing a search on the case, l shall end here but to come out with detail facts and questions. I want to be fair to both the victim and Noguchi at this stage.

Until then, let us note that some corruption has taken place and it has far-reaching consequences on both Kofi Acheampong and Noguchi. Each has the obligation to redeem its image.

Radio programme presenters, studio guests and phone-in callers, please try as much as you can to be more objective when discussing issues of public interest, especially when they border on crime.