My vindication more important than GH¢93m reward – Tobbin

Elder Dr Samuel Amo Tobbin, Group Chairman of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited (TPL), has emphasised that his vindication takes precedence over the judgment debt awarded to him by the court in his longstanding legal dispute with the Food and Drugs Authority, which commenced in 2019.

The Herald Newspaper recently alleged that TPL and the FDA are colluding on a dubious GHC94 million judgment debt, suggesting that TPL is receiving more than it deserves and that the FDA’s court defence was weak.

However, in an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Dr. Tobbin stressed the significance of his vindication for his business, family, and personal life.

He stated that he values his vindication above all, otherwise, he would have appealed the court’s decision to challenge the payments, emphasising that his vindication is paramount to the judgment debt.

“If the court agreed and accepted the damages that we submitted to the court, the total damage we demanded from the court was $18 million to $ 20 million. This is what the court gave us [GH¢93,905,760.79 million]. The joy I have in me is my name and on the internet, we have bad names and bad reputations that I imported fake drugs and all that, which is on the internet now. And it’s my prayer that this good thing [vindication] will clean the past.

“So that tomorrow, my descendants will not come and somebody will tell them that your daddy imported fake products and all that.”

When asked if his vindication is more important than the judgment debt, he said, “More important, if not, I would have gone to the Appeal Court and appealed for what they have issued to us. I said $18 million to $20 million, and calculate by GHC15.5 [dollar rate], plus interests.

“What happened was that when they calculated, they gave us GHC24 million and an additional 500 and something thousand and 60 something thousand [GH¢24,003,157.20, GH¢511,414.35 for demurrage and GH¢67,300, for Bonded warehouse]. This is what the court offered us. This one that the court offered us, we had to work it out 8 years ago. So the 8 years ago interest is what has increased to 90 something [GH¢93,905,760.79].”

Background

The controversy dates back to between September and December 2013, when Dr. Kwabena Opuni, then CEO of the FDA, launched a series of actions against Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited. These actions were based on accusations that the company had imported fake drugs into the country.

As part of these measures, the FDA locked Tobinco’s warehouses nationwide, leading to significant embarrassment for the company and its chairman. The regulator also disposed of Tobinco’s products, resulting in substantial financial losses as the products expired rapidly.

Additionally, the FDA banned Bliss GVS Pharma Limited, Tobinco’s principal business partner at the time, from exporting drugs to Ghana. This ban, coupled with the labelling of Tobinco’s drugs as fake, led to the confiscation of the company’s products from customers.

The situation escalated when Dr Opuni reported Elder Dr Tobbin to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), leading to his arrest and detention at the Nima Police Station on December 2, 2013. This incident caused significant distress to his family, relatives, and employees.

Earlier, on September 13, 2013, operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), now the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), intercepted Elder Dr Tobbin and his partner, the CEO of Bliss GVS Pharma Limited, S.N Kamath, dramatically. They were detained and questioned for nearly an entire day without any charges being brought against them. The two were later required to report to the NIB office daily and were further questioned by National Security.

After a decade-long legal struggle, Elder Dr Tobbin has finally been vindicated, with the court ruling in his favour and clearing his name of all allegations.

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