Opposition lawmakers are calling for the immediate dismissal of Ghana’s Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, for undertaking an international transaction without prior approval from Parliament.
In a memo to the Speaker of Parliament calling for a vote of censure, the Minority said his actions were a “direct breach of the Constitution and Laws passed by this Honourable House.”
Outlining Mr. Agyemang-Manu’s failings in the six-point memo, they said the minister was guilty of perjury, among others, when he “misrepresented to the Ad Hoc Committee on Oaths that no payment was made under the agreement to the Private Office of His Highness Shiek Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum [the Dubai-based businessman the Ministry of Health contacted for the procurement].”
The controversy over the vaccines began when a Norwegian newspaper, VG, reported that the government was using the services of middlemen to procure over three million doses of Russia’s Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccines.
According to the Minority signing a procurement agreement with the “prior approval of the Board of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) under sections 40 and 41 of the PPA Act, 2003 (663) as amended by Act 914 which constitutes a criminal offence under the law.”
The Minority said, considering that “the above conduct, being in direct breach of the Constitution and Laws of passed by this honourable House, the Health Minister be removed from office as a Minister by a vote of censure passed in accordance with Article 82 of the Constitution.”
There’s been calls on the Minister to resign following revelations in the report of the Parliamentary Committee that probed the Sputnik V vaccine contract.
The Committee tasked to investigate the deal, found that the amount of $2,850,000 (representing 50% of the contract sum of $5,700,000) has been paid to Messrs Al Maktoum despite the Minister claiming no payment had been made “to the best of my knowledge.”
The amount that translates into the cedi equivalent of GH¢16,331,640 converted at the then prevailing exchange rate of $1 to ¢5.73 was for 300,000 vaccines.
This comes after the Committee tasked to investigate the deal, found that the amount of $2,850,000 (representing 50% of the contract sum of $5,700,000) has been paid to Sheikh Al Maktoum despite the Minister claiming no payment had been made “to the best of my knowledge.”
Following the release of the report, some notable individuals called for Mr Agyeman-Manu’s head.
Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu also says the Minister “should have gone a long time ago.”
“You see that the report has made matters worse for him,” he explained.
The New Crusading Guide newspaper Editor-in-Chief, Kweku Baako Jnr, says the Minister has to resign.
“If he is minded to… resign, I will endorse it; I will vote for him if he were to do the honourable thing and just quit. You cannot defend this”, the veteran journalist told JoyNews in an interview.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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