The Minister of Health, Hon. Mintah Akandoh, has delivered a scathing clarification on the government’s contractual obligations to the medical drone delivery service, Zipline, revealing that the country is spending over half a million dollars every month on a contract that has significantly strayed from its core mandate of emergency response.
Speaking at the recent government accountability series, the Health Minister detailed a costly “take or pay” agreement with the company and further revealed that Zipline’s services are overwhelmingly dominated by the delivery of non-essential items, including condoms and exercise books.
Hon. Akandoh used the platform to directly address the ongoing national debate surrounding the 2018 contract, which has been exacerbated by the government’s failure to settle a substantial debt. The government is currently owing Zipline a staggering GHS 175 million, a situation that has led to the temporary shutdown of three operational centers.
The Minister drew focus to the rigid financial terms of the sole-sourced contract, which took effect in 2019 between the then government and Zipline – and mandated a steep financial commitment regardless of the actual utilization of the service.
“Let me use the opportunity to clarify the happenings in the Zipline drone services. A contract was signed in 2018 and took effect in 2019, and as part of that contract, there were clauses known as take or pay clauses in the agreement. The agreement or contract was sole-sourced”
Hon. Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health
According to the Health Minister, “the government was or is obligated to pay $88,000 per center, per month.” With six operational Zipline centers, this financial drain amounts to over half a million dollars paid monthly for services that the Hon. Akandoh asserted, fails the value-for-money test.
He revealed that the current burden on Ghana’s Consolidated Fund directly contradicts solemn assurances given by the previous administration during the contract’s parliamentary debate and signing – that the government wasn’t going to bear the cost of the contract.
Minister Akandoh cited the official records (Hansards), quoting the then-Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, who sought to assure Parliament that the public purse would be protected by explaining why the then-Finance Minister’s signature wasn’t on the contract document.
“The whole discussion has to do with the fact that they were not going to pay from the government of Ghana’s fund. Some other stakeholders were engaged and I’ve had the opportunity to verify from them, including the GMA then, and accordingly, the same argument was advanced”
Hon. Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health
Hon. Akandoh stressed however that this core promise – that stakeholders, not the government, would fund Zipline’s service – was quickly broken as the government of Ghana ended up paying a lot of money to Zipline.
Mission Drift: Flying Textbooks and Condoms
The Health Minister presented data showing a dramatic failure to meet the contract’s intended purpose of focusing on emergency services and hard-to-reach areas. His review showed a startling misalignment: hard-to-reach areas account for only 12% of Zipline’s activities, while emergency services constitute a mere 4% of activities.
The vast majority of the expensive drone time is now spent on general logistics, including the delivery of non-essential, readily available items that undermine the claim of specialized emergency service.
Hon Alkandoh listed some of the common items being flown: condom, blood donor cards (not blood), mosquito nets, food and nutrition items, adhesive tapes, syringes and needles, education materials, textbooks, exercise books, uniforms, and a lot more.
This operational profile, according to him, confirms the government’s concern that it is paying premium prices for a service that functions as an expensive courier for common goods, necessitating a drastic policy review.
Hon. Akandoh assured the public that the government is not ignoring the issue, but is rather engaging Zipline precisely – because President John Dramani Mahama has directed every ministry to ensure maximum value for public funds.
“If you hear that we are not engaging with Zipline, it’s not true. We have met more than three times and we are still engaging them to know how we can have value for the money we pay”
Hon. Mintah Akandoh, Minister of Health
The Minister concluded by emphasizing that the government’s primary focus is to ensure fiscal prudence and accountability in every inherited contractual obligation, particularly one as costly and contentious as the Zipline arrangement.
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