2 Arrested For Producing �Waist & Power� Concoctions

Two persons, including a self-acclaimed doctor, believed to be behind the production and sale of a herbal concoction laced with high doses of paracetamol and Nescafe have been arrested by the police. They are Dr Kwabena Takyi, the owner of Kwabena Takyi Herbal Clinic at Omanjor, near Ablekuma in Accra, and Ransford Asmah, 23, who acts as a sales agent for Takyi. After tracking the suspects and arresting them, the Sowutuom Police retrieved quantities of herbal preparations bearing different names. Names of herbal preparations Some of the preparations were labelled Dr Kwabena Takyi Waist and Body Pains Mixture, Original Super Charger, Dr Kwabena Takyi Blood Tonic, Special Mixture, Obaapa Nie and Dr Kwabena Takyi High Blood Pressure. Also retrieved from the suspects were mineral water bottles that had been filled with a brown concoction and labelled Menstrual Pain and White. One concoction is said to heal several diseases, including waist pains, asthma and hypertension and sometimes acts as an aphrodisiac. The police also found paracetamol tablets, sachets of Nescafe and an electronic blood pressure checking machine. The Odorkor District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Abraham Acquaye, told the Daily Graphic that the Director of the Mary Lucy Memorial Hospital at Anyaah had reported to the police that someone was producing and selling herbal medicine in the name of the hospital. He said even though the clinic was a purely orthodox health facility, the producers of the herbal concoction had claimed they were its representatives. Suspicion On July 11, 2014, a woman had called the hospital to enquire whether it was producing herbal medicine. The woman was said to have told the hospital authorities that she had bought a bottle of herbal medicine from a young man at Abeka for GH�11. According to the woman, she had been directed by the sales agent to add 20 tablets of paracetamol, 30 capsules of penicillin and six sachets of Nescafe to the concoction before drinking it. �The woman became suspicious because of the prescription and, therefore, looked for the contacts of the Mary Lucy Hospital to find out the truth in the claims, since the seller had claimed the drugs were products of the hospital,� Mr Acquaye said. He said with the help of the woman, the police arrested Asmah about 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, 2014, and he led them to a house at Omanjor where big cooking pots were being used to prepare the concoctions. Certificates Mr Acquaye said some leaves, roots and stems of plants were found in the house, while some bottles filled with the boiled medicine were also retrieved. On his arrest, Takyi produced a certificate from the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM) at Mampong Akuapem and the Ministry of Health, a licence from the Traditional Medicine Practice Council and a certificate of registration. However, they had all expired in March 2014.