Two persons have been arrested by the Techiman Divisional Police Command in the Bono East Region for allegedly producing and selling fake hand sanitizers.
The two, Daniel Opoku Ababio and his wife Dorothy Opoku, are expected to be put before the Techiman circuit court later today [Friday, March 27, 2020].
They were arrested by the police on Wednesday 25th March 2020 upon a tip-off.
The Crime Officer of the Techiman Divisional Police Command, DSP Kofi Sarkodie told Citi News investigation into the matter is underway.
“Based on the information that we had, a team of police officers proceeded to the scene, that is the Kumasi-Techiman lorry station, found the guy and arrested him to the station with his wife, Opoku Ababio, and the wife Dorothy Opoku. We have to arraign them at the Techiman Circuit court otherwise we have to grant them bail to a reliable surety while we continue with our investigation,” he said.
The demand for hand sanitizers has shot up in Ghana following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
As part of precautionary measures against the disease, experts have urged the public to commit to regular handwashing with soap under running water and also using alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
This has shot up the demand for sanitizers with some private persons taken advantage to produce some locally for sale.
Health experts warn that such locally-produced ones may not be effective in the fight against COVID-19 as they may not have been made according to the expected standards.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has accredited some local companies to produce and sell hand sanitizers.
The companies such as Kasapreko Company Limited have suspended the production of alcoholic drinks and are now into the production of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Man ‘tricked’ into buying baby lotion instead of sanitizer
A stranded trader from Yeji was left fuming after realizing that he was tricked into buying baby lotion for GHS70 at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region instead of a hand sanitizer.
He came to the realization after interacting with a Citi News team which covered the disinfection exercise at the Adabraka Market on Monday, March 23, 2020.
After Citi News team gave him some drops of sanitizers to protect him from contacting COVID-19, the trader was furious over how he had been misled.
