The Vody Energy Case: Imam Hamidou Berthé drives the point home
The religious sector has also been involved in the scam aimed at tarnishing the image of the energy drink VODY ENERGY. In his sermons, Imam Hamidou Berthé, Imam of the mosque in Attécoubé, a district of Abidjan, echoed the authorities’ ban on the consumption of VODY.
The seizure of thousands of stocks of the drink by police officers and gendarmes in the Adjamey and Treichville markets and at crossroads under false documents was still not enough for them to capitulate to the discovery of the deception.
Despite cashing in some twenty million CFA francs on the backs of honest VODY traders just trying to earn a living, the commercial riffifi around extortion continues to claim its hero among the swindlers.
So beyond the framework of VODY ENERGY, the ban is being extended to other drinks under the pretext of containing a mixture of drugs.
So the imam didn’t just take to the podium to glorify himself against «the marketing of this new form of drug», as he put it.
But Hamidou Berthé created even more confusion when he justified the authorities’ action, saying that «VODY is not profitable».
Does this mean that he himself once marketed VODY?
Contrary to the imam’s insistence, VODY contains drug-free substances.
Its ingredients are limited to a mixture of low-alcohol vodka and energy products. So nothing harmful. However, moderate consumption is required.
Except that the words of the religious representative end up echoing the cries of Parrot perched on the same platform.
If «young people have recently taken pleasure in consuming VODY», it’s precisely because the ingredients used in its manufacture have no adverse effects on consumer health.
Despite the background to this affair, the imam went even further.
He called for a «round-up» of all traders in the vicinity of crossroads in the country’s economic capital, going so far as to describe the drink as «poison».
The «destruction of youth» is not VODY, but the unemployment that its ban is about to cause among jobless young Ivorians.
At a price of 1000 CFA francs per unit, the VODY trade, given its high quality, is very lucrative.
Over the last few years, VODY energy has taken over the African market, putting paid to some of the breweries that used to make the headlines in countries like Côte d’Ivoire. Almost all of these breweries are run by French nationals.
Given the irreproachable nature of the brand in terms of its legal operating record and the international certificates approved for its consumption and marketing, seizure by force of arms is a totally unfair manoeuvre.
In any case, the brand’s managers say they have filed a complaint with the Ivorian authorities.
Yaro AMINOU
