'Killing me (us) Softly?' - Brig Gen. Dan Frimpong (Rtd) writes
Recently in the UK, a young Ghanaian male nurse was fined by a tribunal for repeatedly calling a 61-year-old British colleague “auntie.” His defence that in his culture (Ghana), “auntie” is used as a sign of respect in addressing older ladies was not accepted. Here, I address veteran journalist Ajoa Yeboah Afari “auntie” without any fear of her suing me because it culturally polite to do so.
“Auntie Ajoa”
In her March 17th 2026, article titled “Food Safety: When houseflies turn canary birds, it is time to take action,” she lamented how a basic enterprise like eating has become dangerous on account of food being poisoned with chemicals.
She wrote, “Who would have thought there would come a time when the universally acknowledged enemy of food hygiene, the common housefly, would be viewed as the guide for unsafe-to-eat fish and vegetables on sale in markets?” She was referring to the practice of formalin being applied to fish and vegetables, such that houseflies avoid them.
Indeed, galamsey is the latest and probably most dangerous entrant into our food chain with cyanide, lead, mercury, arsenic, etc. being pumped into our water bodies.
Auntie Ajoa’s article took me to my October 10th, 2019 article titled “sentenced to death by food?” part of which goes:
QUOTE
When individuals are sentenced to death by the State for any criminal offence, the mode of their transformation into ghosts to meet their ancestors in the other world is often pronounced by the State.
So here in Ghana, we know of death by firing squad and death by hanging. Elsewhere, there is death by the electric chair. Indeed, thousands of years ago in ancient Greece, Socrates is said to have been sentenced to death by drinking poison from the hemlock plant, for the crime of opposing the thinking that, the earth was flat.
What I have not yet heard of officially is anyone “sentenced to death by food!” However, recent reports on TV, radio and the print media make me think that, probably food is the most common death sentence in Ghana, although not pronounced directly.
Vegetables
Some years ago when the first PANAFEST was held in Ghana, reports that vegetables used were flown in from neighbouring countries were greeted with anger. How dare the organisers do that when we had vegetables grown in Ghana, we fumed! Really? Well, we certainly have vegetables, but do they meet basic hygiene standards?
It does not take any stretch of the imagination to see the polluted water from gutters some vegetable growers in Accra use. Indeed, it is a common sight. While some of our neighbours use clean water from dams, others water their vegetables with clean water from wells. Instead of getting angry with importation of vegetables, please let us humbly correct our current unhygienic methods of growing vegetables.
Fruits
Fruits have fared no better. In my article titled “Coconuts, Watermelons and Tomatoes“ (cwt), published in the Daily Graphic of 22 May 2018, I decried the unhygienic manner in which fruits like oranges, tomatoes, mangoes etc are spread on the ground in the markets during the bumper harvest.
Meat and Abattoirs
Recently, top officials of state visited Accra’s biggest abattoir. Watching the carcasses lying on the floor that night on TV killed my appetite for kebabs with immediate effect. How could we in the 21st Century still be operating the same old abattoir we had in colonial times?
I am aware there are a few new and modern ones here and there but generally, our abattoirs are an apology to decency. When I saw a modern abattoir on a visit to a sister African country, I bowed my head in shame for our situation.
The Centre
Some years ago, I patronised the Guest House/Recreational centre of a prominent state organization in Accra and loved their goat-meat kebab. One day, I passed through in the morning when service had not started and the goats were being prepared for the afternoon. To my shock, car tyres were being used to singe/smoke off the hair of the goats! When I questioned the seller, he looked surprised and told me it was cheaper and faster than using fire-wood. The look on the face of a senior official whom I made a report to, suggested the question “have you just arrived from the moon?”
This was long before the education not to use tyres as they are cancer-causing. Now, state officials are paid to ensure food safety for us. The question is, how effective are they?
Contamination
It has been reported that, palm oil is often laced with chemicals (Sudan dye) meant for tanning leather to give it a very reddish look. Our popular salted fish “koobi” is said to be preserved with formalin to give it longer life and to drive away flies!
Fruits like pine-apples, bananas and oranges are forced to prematurely look ripe when they are not, by the application of chemicals on the skin. Water melons are injected with red dye to make the inside look redder and more appetising!
Conclusion
With all this, is it surprising average life expectancy for the Ghanaian hovers around sixty only, as against over eighty in some countries?
It is the responsibility of the state to protect individuals through the numerous institutions. It is not enough to join us the vulnerable in complaining, and do nothing for the job for which you are paid.Please, state officials, do what you pledged to do for which you were appointed and enjoy all the perks to your office, and stop sending us to meet our ancestors prematurely, by being “SENTENCED TO DEATH BY FOOD!”
UNQUOTE
Discussion
Auntie Ajoa used the idiom “canary in the coalmine” in discussing houseflies avoiding fish/meat/vegetables preserved with formalin and other dangerous chemicals. What did she mean?
In the C18th into the C19th, coal miners carried a caged canary bird into the pits. The bird’s death warned the miners to evacuate immediately because of the existence of gases like carbon monoxide. The expression canary in the coalmine is therefore an early warning sign of danger. Houseflies are thus playing the role that canary birds played in the UK, announcing imminent danger.
Perhaps worse than formalin are heavy metals like cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic, which unscrupulous galamsey miners pump into our water bodies. How come, with all that has been said about galamsey being an existential threat, it still continues to be treated with kid-gloves? Are our leaders/misleaders that heartless to prioritise money over life such that Ghanaians can die while they make money?
Leadership, lead by Example/Integrity/Humility! Fellow Ghanaians, WAKE UP!
The writer is a former CEO of African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya and Council Chairman of Family Health University, Accra
