Popular entertainer, Kwame Dzokoto has told Citi News he has been banned by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) from advertising any alcoholic beverage.
This follows a threat by the FDA to sanction and fine celebrities, GHC 25, 000 who advertise for alcoholic beverages.
[contextly_sidebar id=”zGKHlnF4Ten7x55ITCCm4TWzz0UYmLoC”]The FDA says it issued the threat to deter other celebrities including Kwame Dzokoto.
According to the FDA’s Head of Public Relations, James Lartey, the rationale behind the ban is to prevent celebrities from influencing children to patronize alcoholic beverages.
He however clarified that “it is not all celebrities but we are talking about celebrities who have the potential of winning the hearts of children.”
“So if it’s a celebrity who is more inclined to adults, we don’t have a problem but when it comes to children under 18 years, if you are a celebrity and there is a potential of attracting them, then we have an issue,” he added.
But Kwame Dzokoto who is very unhappy with the ban was of the opinion that the FDA has been hasty in enforcing the directive.
He indicated that doing voice overs for radio adverts and appearing in television adverts is the only business he relies on to survive so the ban will affect him.
According to him, he has been in this business for years so the FDA could have called him to discuss the issue to find a way forward rather than placing a ban on his operations.
“Now they say I should not do even radio. Voice over is what I do and live on but they say I should not do radio advert,” he lamented.
Dzokoto however acknowledged that he has no capacity to challenge the framers of the law “because of course, I will not be happy if somebody is influencing my child into alcoholism in such a manner.”
“The laws are made for people so we should not be too harsh…so if I do a job for client, the client sent the advert for an approval and they will say they will not approve it because of this guy in it,” he said.
“When you go to the streets of Accra right now, there are a lot of people selling alcohol but it is against the law and it is not that the AMA is not aware but they have given a human face to it,” he remarked.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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