Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), London South branch, want the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyemang Manu, to resign from his post with immediate effect, or be sacked by President Akufo-Addo.
According to the group, the Health Minister has failed to exhibit leadership, follow laid down approval processes and account to the people in respect of the botched procurement of Sputnik V vaccines.
The group cited some inconsistencies in the Minister’s justification for the Sputnik V vaccine agreement, adding that recent events and revelations clearly indicate that the Minister and the Health Ministry have not been honest with citizens of Ghana whose taxes government appointees use to manage the country.
“One such revelation is when the Minister of Health told the whole country that he had been trying to procure the COVID -19 vaccines through government to government with the Russians but it turned out that he signed the agreement with middlemen in March, and in April approached the Russians through its Foreign Ministry, a clear display of dishonesty. The Minister of Health had also indicated that it was the Sheikh who acted as the middleman who approached the Ministry of Health but recent revelation indicates that it was rather the Minister of Health who rather approached the Sheikh”.
“This is clearly a demonstration of someone who does not have the necessary leadership skills to deal with situations of such magnitude. There is precedence where parliament has been summoned under certificate of emergency, which begs the question why the Minister did not see the need to involve Parliament if not for other ulterior motives.”
The NDC wing wants President Akufo-Addo to prove himself as a protector of the public purse by insisting in value for money in all public transactions.
“The President has displayed tendencies to shield his appointees in similar situations making mockery his promise to fight corruption. Ghanaians are watching, and the time to get the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman Manu to resign for full scale investigations to commence and possible prosecution is now.”
The Health Minister has come under serious criticism for entering the vaccine supply agreement without parliamentary and cabinet approval, or approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA).
It has emerged that the Attorney General had advised against the deal.
