Georgina Osei, a food vendor in Hohoe has been sentenced to a fine of GH¢720.00 by the Hohoe Magistrate Court for preparing food near a toilet facility for public consumption.
Georgina pleaded guilty and was convicted on her own plea and would serve three months imprisonment if she defaults in paying the fine.
Prosecuting, Mr. Frank Azila-Gbettor, Chief Environmental Health Assistant at the Hohoe Municipal Assembly presenting the facts of the case to the court presided over by Mr. Peter Anongdare said the accused person was a food vendor who sold rice in the night in Hohoe.
He said on December 16, last year, Environmental Health Officers on the inspection of their routine premises, visited the premises of Prestige Hall and found the accused preparing rice for public consumption near a toilet facility, which was being used as public toilet within the premises.
Mr. Azila-Gbettor said the officers educated and advised her on the dangers associated with preparing food under such conditions and asked her to stop preparing food in the area.
He said on December 18, 2019, the officers went to ascertain if the directives they had given the accused person was adhered to and found the accused still preparing and selling food there.
The Prosecutor said the accused person was then served a mandatory summon to appear before the Municipal Environmental Health Officer to explain why she failed to comply with the directives and continued to prepare the food for public consumption.
He said on February 13, 2020, the accused was served with a notice of closure to stop her from preparing food with immediate effect since she did not care about efforts by the officers to relocate her to forestall any outbreak of food-borne diseases.