If public officers can destroy businesses without personal consequence, why have rules at all?
The Court of Appeal, Accra, dismissed the FDA’s appeal and upheld the High Court’s judgment, thereby ordering the Authority to pay Tobinco Pharmaceuticals damages more than GH₵300 million for the unlawful confiscation and destruction of the company’s products.
The court also condemned Dr. Stephen Opuni, the former Chief Executive Officer, for abuse of office causing damage to the business of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals. The ruling is clear on liability. The next question is simple: Who pays for the damage?
The answer should be Dr. Opuni himself. Not the taxpayer. Not the FDA. The public officer whose actions the court says caused the loss.
WHAT THE COURT SAID
According to the judgment, actions taken by Dr. Opuni while he was Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority were an abuse of office and damaged Tobinco’s business. Warehouses were shut. Drugs were seized and destroyed. Contracts were lost. A Ghanaian company bled jobs and capital.
In any serious country, that would end with a surcharge.
WHY SURCHARGE MATTERS
1. Deterrence: Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution and the Public Officers Act allow the state to recover losses from officials who cause them. If a CEO at a private company deliberately destroyed GH₵50 million in competitor stock, he would be fired and sued for damages. The standard for public officers cannot be lower. When there is no personal cost, abuse repeats itself.
2. Taxpayer protection: If the state pays Tobinco from the Consolidated Fund, it means the market woman in Makola and the teacher in Bawku are paying for one man’s abuse of office. That is unjust. The Auditor-General surcharges civil servants for GH₵10,000 in unaccounted imprest. The damage to Tobinco runs into hundreds of millions. The principle must be consistent.
3. Restoring confidence in regulation: The FDA’s job is to protect public health, not to kill compliant businesses. Investors watch these cases. If the message is “FDA can destroy you and walk away,” no Ghanaian will build a pharmaceutical plant. Surcharging Dr. Opuni tells investors and regulators alike: the rules bind everyone.
4. He must be banned from holding public office: Abuse of office that destroys livelihoods should disqualify a person from future public trust. The state cannot recycle officials the courts have condemned.
“BUT IT WAS AN OFFICIAL DECISION”
That defense died the moment the court called it “abuse of office.” Discretion is not a license to act arbitrarily. The FDA has a board, legal department, and Standard Operating Procedures. Abuse of office means you went outside those guardrails.
If every wrongful regulatory action is paid for by the state, then every regulator becomes untouchable. That is not how you build a country of laws.
HOW IT SHOULD WORK
1. Quantify the damage: The court or an appointed valuer should establish Tobinco’s losses — destroyed stock, lost profits, reputational damage, legal fees.
2. Issue the surcharge: The Attorney-General, acting with the Auditor-General, should surcharge Dr. Opuni for the amount. His assets can be applied if he fails to pay.
3. Set precedent: Publish the process. Make it clear that from FDA to MMDAs, public officers who abuse office will see their pensions, houses, and accounts used to make the state whole.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Ghana loses $3 billion yearly to corruption and abuse of office, per IMANI estimates. Yet we rarely see personal liability. We get criminal trials that last 8 years and end nowhere. Meanwhile, the businesses die, the jobs vanish, and the youth buy tickets to South Africa.
The Tobinco ruling is a chance to change that. Condemnation without consequence is just commentary.
Dr. Opuni was not the FDA. He was an officer of the FDA. The office didn’t abuse Tobinco — the officer did, according to the court.
So the officer should pay. Surcharge him.
Until Ghanaian public officers know that abuse hits their pocket, not just the headlines, Tobinco won’t be the last company buried by the state. And “Ghana is open for business” will remain a slogan, not a reality.