The National Security has issued a caution to self-styled herbal practitioner ‘Dr.’ Alex Bediako Mensah over misleading claims regarding the renewal of licenses for traditional medicine practitioners.
This follows a statement released by the Head of Public Affairs of the Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC), Numo Blafo III.
The controversy began when the TMPC ramped up its routine monitoring and inspection of herbal facilities to ensure compliance with Section 9 (1) of the Traditional Medicine Practice Act 2000 (Act 575), which mandates that only registered practitioners are allowed to operate herbal medicine facilities or produce herbal remedies for sale.
Section 12 (1,2) of the Act also requires practitioners to renew their licenses periodically.
During one of these inspections, the TMPC’s Compliance and Enforcement Inspectorate (CEI) team discovered that Mr. Mensah was operating an unlicensed herbal shop, China Natural Herbal Shop, located at Lapaz. Further investigations revealed that he also owned three additional facilities—two in Greater Accra and one in the Ashanti Region—all of which had expired licenses.
Despite multiple renewal notices from the TMPC, Mr. Mensah failed to comply.
The situation escalated when a voice note surfaced, allegedly from Mr. Mensah, claiming he had been advised by National Security to delay his license renewal payments until a new Registrar was appointed by President John Dramani Mahama. He further urged other practitioners to withhold payments to the TMPC.
In response, the TMPC reported the matter to National Security, which subsequently summoned ‘Dr.’ Bediako Mensah for questioning on February 6, 2025.
During the interrogation, he claimed that the directive had come from a certain “Baba.” However, upon verification, it was established that this advice was based on misinformation and had no official backing.
National Security then cautioned Mr. Mensah and instructed him to retract his false claims. He was directed to issue both a written and verbal retraction on the same platform through which the misinformation was spread. Mr. Mensah complied and also agreed to regularize his operations with the TMPC.
The TMPC has reiterated its commitment to enforcing regulatory compliance to uphold high standards in the practice of traditional medicine in Ghana.
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