Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner, has disclosed that the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, is not fit for his position.
According to him, the health minister ought to resign due to his decision of working alone despite the deluge of assistance at his disposal.
His comments follow the assertion made by the ad hoc Committee set up by Parliament to probe the procurement of Sputnik vaccine.
The Committee had revealed that, the Health Minister paid 50% of the contract sum to Messrs Al Maktoum prior to appearing before them.
“From day one, it has always been clear that this man should have gone a long time. The more he talks, the more he demonstrates that he is not fit for the position.
“He has all these technical advisers from the Ministry, a Chief Director, Lawyer and so on, and yet he chooses to work alone; lone ranger. So, lone ranger falls into trouble, he should take the fall”.
Martin Kpebu
Mr Kpebu further noted that Mr Agyeman-Manu is not the only individual who can serve Ghana as a Minister of Health.
“It will serve him well to just leave, walk away from the job. The embarrassment he is causing all of us is too much.”
Martin Kpebu
Ad hoc Committee’s probe into vaccine deal
The ad hoc committee had indicated that government had paid $2,850,000 of $5,700,000 in the controversial Sputnik vaccine deal.
That notwithstanding, the Health Minister, had told the committee that, “to the best of my knowledge, we haven’t done any payment”.
Furthermore, Mr Agyeman-Manu explained that he went ahead with the negotiations because of the dire situation of the country at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following this, the Ministry of Health has clarified that Mr Agyeman-Manu received information about payment to Messrs Al Maktoum in relation to the Sputnik V contract.
This, the ministry revealed, was after he appeared before the committee probing the deal.
Ministry of Health’s Sputnik V Vaccines probe
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has tasked the Ministry of Finance to assist in recovering the remaining money paid for the Sputnik V Vaccines.
According to the ministry, this does not include the cost of 20,000 doses that have been supplied.
Also, the Committee has been ordered to take steps to recover the $2,850,000, being the cost of the Sputnik V vaccines that were proposed to be procured.
Contained in a letter dated August 3, 2021, addressed to the Committee, the Ministry’s Head of Legal Affairs, Alhaji Inua Yusif, explained that, some new information had come to the notice of the Ministry of Health that, some funds had been transferred by the Government of Ghana to the Private Office of H. H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum in respect of the Agreement for the supply of Sputnik V Vaccine.
“In line with clause 8.2 of the Agreement, the Ministry of Health has taken steps by requesting for the assistance of the Ministry of Finance to recover the remaining amount from the Private Office of H. H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, which should be the total amount paid, minus the amount due for the 20, 000 doses already supplied”.
Ministry of Health
Meanwhile, attached to the Health Ministry’s letter addressed to the ad hoc Committee were three documents the Ministry claimed it received subsequently.
They included a letter from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to the Bank of Ghana in respect of an order of telegraphic transfer of funds.
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