The Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has stated that a former Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu will be arraigned in the coming weeks.
He said the Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO), investigated the matter and handed it over to the Attorney-General.
The former Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu will be charged in the coming weeks over the Sputnik V vaccine purchase and Frontiers Healthcare Services deal. EOCO has handed over the docket to the Attorney-General for prosecution, he said on TV3’s The KeyPoints of March 4.
In the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the then Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, supervised the importation of Sputnic V vaccines.
It later emerged that the price at which the vaccine was bought was higher than the global market price. It also came to light that although payments were made, at a particular point in time, the quantity of vaccines had not been delivered.
On July 20, 2021 Mr Agyemang Manu said 20,000 doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccines brought into the country by Sheikh Makhtoun have been administered on census officials.
The Dubai-based businessman terminated a contract with the Health Ministry to supply about 3.2 million doses of the vaccines following his inability to provide all of the agreed consignment.
Mr Agyemang Manu said the 20,000 doses which came in for trials have been administered to census officials.
Definitely they will ask us to pay for the 20,000. I have paid bank charges on the 300,000 order for which NC was raised. We have an obligation towards the payment of the 20,000 so it is not correct that we have not lost anything and we will not lose anything as a country.
They have been used, because of demand for vaccinations in the country. Those who went to do census, this was allocated for their utilization such that they can also have safe environment to operate within, so we have utilized the entire 20,000 and we had to utilize the entire 20,000 because they were also getting close to expiry and we could not let the vaccines go waste, the then Health Minister said.
Subsequently, the then Minority in Parliament initiated a Vote of Censure against Mr Agyemang Manu.
The motion, filed by Ketu North Member of Parliament (MP), Dr James Klutse Avedzi, Asawase MP; Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak and Banda MP; Ahmed Ibrahim, followed the Ministry’s decision to engage in international transactions without Parliamentary approval contrary to article 181 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Motion sought to get then Health Minister to answer six questions about the procurement and supply of the vaccines.
The motion questioned the decision of the then Minister to secure vaccine at the cost of $19, when the then ex-factory price was $10.
The transaction was based on sections 40 and 41 of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended by Act 914.
The Minister of Health transacted with the private office of Sheik Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum and paid US$850,000, which has a cedi equivalent of GHS16.3 million under a void agreement.
The Motion read in part that: “The conduct of the Minister constitutes a direct breach of the Constitution and laws passed by Parliament and the Minister of Health be removed by a vote of censure passed in accordance with article 82 of the 1992 Constitution.”
Source: 3news
