Mr. Ibrahim Adjei, a former Assistant Secretary at the Office of the former President Nana Akufo-Addo, has strongly criticized calls for the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to terminate its contract with the medical drone delivery company, Zipline.
He warned that an outright termination of the agreement, as demanded by Majority Leader Hon. Mahama Ayariga, would severely jeopardize healthcare delivery in Ghana’s rural communities, and urged the administration instead to focus on renegotiation and local investment.
The dispute follows a November 28 debate in Parliament where the Majority Leader called for the immediate termination of the Zipline contract, describing the medical drone service as a “total waste of state resources.”
This demand came after Minority Leader Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin urged the government to summon the Health Minister to address the operational shutdown of three Zipline centers, a direct result of the government’s mounting GHS 175 million debt to the company.
Mr. Adjei argued that sacrificing the service, which has proven essential in transporting critical supplies to hard-to-reach facilities, is short-sighted and detrimental to public health goals. He insisted that the financial issue should be handled through negotiation, not termination.
“What Mahama Ayariga should do is negotiate with Zipline for the cost of service. Government resources should be channelled into speaking, negotiating or renegotiating with Zipline to get better terms, because it is a business – rather than completely dismantling a critical emergency healthcare system”
Ibrahim Adjei, Former Assistant Secretary to the President
Mr. Adjei stressed that renegotiation offers the government a better opportunity to review the cost of Zipline’s operations and ensure more efficient service delivery terms, preserving the essential function of the drones while addressing financial strain.
Competitive Local Industry
He also directly addressed the Majority Leader’s assertion that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is capable of operating a parallel system by procuring its own drones, suggesting that rather than viewing Zipline as an expensive liability to be eliminated, the government should leverage the existing framework to foster a competitive local industry.
“Why not encourage Ghanaians to also enter this sector of medical delivery? No one is saying Zipline should have a monopoly; there is a lot of investment potential there, as is being replicated in other African countries”
Ibrahim Adjei, Former Assistant Secretary to the President
He cited the drone delivery models existing successfully in other nations, including Rwanda and China, and advised the government to empower local entrepreneurs to invest in similar medical delivery technologies in the country too. This approach, he suggested, “would naturally break Zipline’s current monopoly,” while expanding the overall capacity for emergency healthcare logistics nationwide.
Mr. Ibrahim Adjei noted that the operational shutdown of three Zipline centers serves as a stark warning of the consequences of the government’s failure to settle its substantial debt.
The company, a key partner in Ghana’s healthcare logistics since 2018 warned that without urgent action to clear the arrears, its continued operations and the life-saving services it provides to underserved communities would face further, possibly total, disruption.
The medical drone system has been lauded internationally for its ability to deliver blood products, vaccines, and essential medicines quickly to rural clinics that often struggle with poor road infrastructure and accessibility, especially during emergencies. Adjei’s counsel is therefore clear: ending the contract would be a regression in public health strategy.
Political Attack on Afenyo-Markin
Separately, Mr. Adjei weighed in on the parliamentary conflict surrounding the Minority Leader, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, describing the move to refer him to the Privileges Committee as a politically motivated attack aimed at silencing dissent.
The decision by Speaker Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin to refer Hon. Afenyo-Markin to the Committee followed a petition by Majority Leader Hon. Mahama Ayariga, who complained that the Minority Leader had opposed a resolution to exclude him from Ghana’s ECOWAS delegation.
Mr. Adjei sharply criticized this maneuver, asserting that the Majority’s actions were designed to weaken parliamentary oversight.
“Honourable Afenyo-Markin has been a vociferous leader in making sure we hold this government to account. This is a way to silence and intimidate him, but if you know Afenyo-Markin very well, this kind of political guerrilla attack won’t work”
Ibrahim Adjei, Former Assistant Secretary to the President
He maintained that the ruling does not meet the necessary threshold to warrant a Privileges Committee probe, stressing that the integrity of Parliament should be maintained by adhering to fact, not political expediency.
Adjei concluded that rather than intimidating the opposition, the ruling would only embolden Afenyo-Markin to intensify his crucial role in parliamentary scrutiny of government business.
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