Dr. Stephen Opuni’s alleged mess at FDA comes back to haunt Ghanaians

A leadership mess created at the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) by its former CEO, Dr. Stephen Opuni, has come back to bite Ghanaians in the form of a judgment debt amounting to a whopping GH₵94 million.

The judgment debt against the FDA was delivered on July 29, 2024, at the Accra High Court General Jurisdiction 9 division, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay.

TOBINCO Pharmaceuticals LTD. brought a suit against the FDA on July 19, 2019, to recover damages from the FDA for actions the FDA and its former chief executive officer, Dr. Stephen Opuni, took against the company in 2013.

While acting as the head of the FDA, Dr. Stephen Opuni confiscated the pharmaceutical products of TOBINCO LTD, banned the sale of some drugs, locked up its warehouses, and destroyed some of its drugs without an order from any court. Dr. Opuni also caused the arrest and forced confession of the company’s C.E.O. by the NIB.

These actions were taken against the Ghanaian-owned company with the excuse that TOBINCO was selling expired drugs and importing ‘fake’ pharmaceutical products. The action of Dr. Opuni caused massive damage to the reputation and business of the Ghanaian-owned company, which decided to take legal action against the FDA on July 29, 2019, when Dr. Stephen Opuni was no longer head at the FDA.

In an explicit judgment on July 29, 2024, after several years of litigation, the Accra High Court decided that Dr. Stephen Opuni acted with impunity during his time as head of the FDA against TOBINCO Pharmaceuticals LTD. The court therefore granted all the reliefs sought by TOBINCO against the FDA, amounting to a whopping 94 million Ghana cedis.

The 11-year-old acts of impunity by Dr. Stephen Opuni against a Ghanaian-owned company have not only come back to bite Ghanaians in the pocket; they have also caused substantial damage to the reputation of the FDA, whose current leadership bears no responsibility whatsoever for today’s judgment debt against the authority.

In an attempt to twist the issues and divert attention, Dr. Stephen Opuni-controlled newspapers such as the Herald and others have rather put out fake stories that seek to blame the current leadership at the FDA for a judgment debt occasioned by the impunity of Dr. Stephen Opuni, who coincidentally is currently standing criminal trial for his alleged unlawful actions years later as head of the Ghana COCOBOD.

It is legitimate to ask whether or not it is a coincidence that the same Dr. Stephen Opuni, whose unlawful actions at the FDA have now caused the Ghanaian taxpayer millions of Ghana cedis in judgment debt, is at the same time standing criminal trial for causing financial loss to the state as head of COCOBOD?

There are those whose role in public office only leaves a trail of bad choices and decisions that end up hurting all of us.

It is important to make the point that this current whooping judgment debt against the FDA bears the face, name, and signature of Dr. Stephen Opuni, who, perhaps, should also stand another criminal trial for causing financial loss to the state at the FDA because of his disregard for the law.