This year?s Valentine?s Day celebration recorded an unprecedented patronage of condoms in some of the big towns in Ghana.

Most chemical shops in Accra, Cape Coast, Tamale, Kumasi and Obuasi enjoyed bumper sales in the commodity.

A random interview conducted by The Mirror on the patronage of condoms in about 50 pharmacy shops in areas such as Labadi, Odorkor, Osu, Dansoman, North Kaneshie and Adabraka, all within the Accra metropolis, immediately before and on Valentine?s Day revealed that many of the shops made windfall sales, reports Love Aboagye and Loraine Nyatepe.

A brand of Aganzi, called ?Wildfire,? which is red in colour, was the most favoured by women.

Frimpomaa, a salesgirl in one of the pharmacy shops, told The Mirror that she sold a lot of Aganzi condoms at ?15,000 for a pack of three.

She said most of the patrons were between the ages 20 and 25 years. In all, she said ?1 million was generated from the sale of condoms alone during the celebration.

Cynthia Owusu, another salesgirl, said her shop made over ?300,000 from the sale of condoms alone. She said people came in for the very expensive brands such as ?New Caress?, which sells at ?14,000 for a pack of three. She added that patrons were between the ages of 16 and 40 years.

Another revelation which came up was that most adults were reluctant to buy the condoms themselves and, therefore, sent children between the ages of seven and 10 to buy for them.

Aba Botchway, who disclosed this, said these adults write the type of condoms they want on pieces of paper and give them to the children, who in turn present them to the salesgirls in the shops.

Apart from condoms, greeting cards and hampers were heavily patronised by a number of people. In the Cape Coast municipality, there was a condom rush, with people celebrating love and bearing in mind the "saying," ?love with care?.

All the chemical stores The Mirror visited in the municipality to find out about the sale of condoms on Valentine?s Day disclosed that sales were extremely high. At the Fred Opoku Sakyi Chemical Store, Nana Asare Bediako said about 1,500 packs of condoms were sold out to individuals and retailers, compared to the less than a 100 packs sold out on ordinary days.

At the Kofi Koranteng Chemical Store, Ms Magdalene Apprey, said, "We sold all our stock of condoms and yet people kept asking for more."

At the Aninadjei Chemical Store, Mr Maxwell Pinkrah said the shyness that was associated with the purchase of condoms was missing on Valentine?s Day. At the K.B. Asante Chemical Store, there was an appreciable increase in the sale of condoms.

Female condoms did not enjoy high patronage at the various chemical shops. Some of the sellers said some of the buyers used condoms as parcels for friends while most of them said they were going to use them themselves.

At Obuasi, this year?s Valentine?s night met a very poor weather but the teenagers defied the threat of heavy wind and rain and did their ?own thing? at some night clubs and pubs.

Many joints busted noisily and fussily. And the night turned into one of drinking and free sex at some of the spots in the town.

It was common to see teenagers between 13 and 16 years in compromising positions, glued to walls and trees. It was no fluke that chemical shops ran short of condoms.

At the time, the local FM station, SHAFT, was hosting an HIV/AIDS awareness programme, with some churches and organisations in attendance, at the foreground of the Len Clay Stadium ? popularly called the Black Park.

Ladies and their partners in attendance were all in red dresses, as if there was a funeral for a Manchester United player.

The last spot our reporter ended his tour was at Anyinam, and the situation was not different. Though drunk, the young boys and girls here danced till they dropped.

However, parents in Obuasi will have a breather from now on because of a curfew barring children under 18 years from going out after 8.00 pm.

The bye-law became operational from February 17. The Adansi West District Assembly, which instituted the ?curfew?, noted that the unimpressive academic results at the BECE, the fact that HIV/AIDS is prevalent and other social crimes involving children are on the ascendency necessitated the curfew. Punitive measures for both recalcitrant children and their parents have been instituted.

From Kumasi, George Ernest Asare reports that there were fluctuations in the sale of condoms in the Kumasi metropolis.

While some pharmacy shops increased their sale of condoms on the day in question, and would always crave for many Valentine?s days in a year, increase their profits, others, especially those that closed early, had low patronage, while a sizeable others also indicated that even though brands such as Romantic, Aganzi, 7500, Cacilu, Durex, Rough Rider and Desire are very costly, they are highly patronised, especially by high class people because they are not only durable but also very elastic and do not tear easily.

Champion, Panther and Gold Circle, among others, are also quite moderate in their prices and are patronised by the low class in society.

On the day in question, the sale of the first class condoms went up in most of the pharmacy shops in the Kumasi metropolis, but other shops had moderate sales.

According to the pharmacists interviewed, there was a sharp increase in the sale of condoms that day and attributed the increase to the sexual connotations attached to the celebration of St Valentine?s Day.

At the KAMA Pharmacy Shops, it was learnt that the sales of the products was normal, but at Edikey Pharmacy, ?there was dramatic increase in the products, especially Romantic and 7500, but that of Champion and Panther was quite normal?.

Other pharmacy shops such as the Rightway, Western, Unipharma Nyankwa and the Amakom Shell shops either recorded a sharp increase in condom sales or had normal sales.

It was also noted that unlike the past, when buying condoms was considered as immoral, people now walk boldly to the shops to buy the products and the brands they desire unmindful of the attitude of those around.

In Tamale, a research conducted after Valentine?s celebration in the municipality revealed that more condoms were sold out in the municipality on that day. According to some drug store owners The Mirror spoke to, the sale of condoms trippled during the Valentine period, reports Majeed Yakubu.

They also indicated that both young girls and boys of 12 years and above were seen buying condoms in the day. The sugar daddies who engaged in the game but did not want to be seen buying condoms contracted some youth to get them the hot cake on Valentine?s Day.

One of the chemical storekeepers (name withheld) emphatically said, ?I wish Valentine?s Day could be celebrated almost every week for I had a very good market for condoms and chocolate.?

When a young man was contacted for the reason for the high demand of condoms, he said the youth, as much as they want to make love with their partners were aware of the dangers of the deadly disease HIV/AIDS, hence the high demand for the ?hot cake? condoms.

Commenting on how Ghanaians have come to accept the celebration of Valentine?s Day, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Women and Children?s Affairs, Mr David Okruw Aidoo, said the manner in which people, especially the youth, have come to perceive the celebration goes contrary to the real meaning of the Day.

However, the fact that they are using condoms indicates that education and awareness on HIV/AIDS has really gone down well with them, he said.