The Adjaben Magistrate court, has fined two drinking bar operators GH₵ 1,200 for selling akpeteshie, a local gin adulterated with mahogany without authorisation and expired drinks to the public.
The two Patrick Djangel and Theodora Kpakpo were convicted on their own plea and also charged for operating a drinking bar with uncertified staff contrary to section nine (9) of the Assembly’s 2017, Food Safety and Hygiene bye-laws which mandates all food sellers to undergo screening by accredited service providers for issuance of valid health certificate.
According to the prosecution, a team of environmental and public health Officers from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on a routine inspection visited the said drinking bars and in the course of their duties found the fortified alcoholic beverage and expired drinks (Eagle Lager Beer) that had been put on sale.
The prosecution told the court presided over by His Worship Isaac Addo that, both would have served a three months jail term if defaulted in the payment fined adding that both offenders operated from Chorkor a sub in Accra.
Head of Public Health Department of the Assembly, Florence Kuukyi, in an interview said provisions in the Liquor licensing Act , 1970 ( Act 331) of Ghana prohibits the sale of any alcoholic beverage without adhering to the dictates of the act .
She explained that it was illegal for anyone to sell such beverages without the requisite documents, adding that the Assembly would not relent on its efforts to clamp down on such persons who continue to sell quack products to consumers within the metropolis.
She said the Public health Officers of the Assembly would continue to embark on periodic checks of such facilities and cautioned would be offenders to desist from the practice to avoid the wrath of the law.
Madam Kuukyi urged all food sellers to produce their health certificate on demand.
