Reports from the Dormaa Central Constituency of the Bono Region, have revealed that Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, the former Minister of Health, might be on his way out of Parliament where he had been since 2009 on the ticket of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The Herald’s information is that, his re-election campaign has been dogged by the outrageous expenditures in the fight against COVID-19, with many reports of financial malfeasance found in some of the multimillion-dollar transactions being used against him.
The Ministry, which he headed, awarded many procurement contracts for the provision Corona Virus medical consumables without the approval of the Central Tender Review Committee.
Among other things, a special audit report on the government of Ghana’s COVID-19 expenditure for the period March 2020 to June 2022, revealed that, some US$81 million cash, part of the many funds from multiple sources to fight the virus, could not be accounted for.
Another transaction was the purchase of the Sputnik V vaccine at US$19 per dose, instead of US$10 per dose. The purchase price was believed to be inflated, leading to a probe tabled by the Minority side of Parliament.
Aside from his long stay as a Member of Parliament (MP) which is working against him, the claims of several properties, including a hospital which has been linked to Mr Agyemang-Manu, with many in the constituency, especially his political opponents, questioning the source of the Chartered Management Accountant’s wealth.
Insiders in his campaign team told The Herald that, the ex-Health Minister, is having the toughest period in his political career, and has been forced on several occasions admit to his lieutenants that his chances in the December 7, 2024, parliamentary elections are indeed uncertain.
While questioning the source of his wealth in the acquisition of the hospital named Banhart Specialist Hospital in Sunyani-Abesim tied to him, his constituents in and outside the constituency, have been sharing pictures depicting the deplorable state of the Accident and Emergency unit of the Dormaa Ahenkro Presbyterian Hospital.
According to them, President Nana Akufo-Addo and Mr Agyemang-Manu, did a sod cutting for the construction of the Accident and Emergency unit in 2020, but since then, nothing has been done on the health facility, apart the metal shed. The constructor is said to be an Israeli and has since deserted the site.
The Auditor-General Report, prepared under Section 16 of the Audit Service Act, 2000 (Act 584) and submitted to Parliament in December 2022, cited the Minister in-charge of Health, for overpaying for the supply of vaccines in the heat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Special Audit Report, signed by Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu, the Auditor-General noted that the Ministry of Health, paid a whopping US$120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccines valued at US$38,322,000.00. The Auditor-General has directed the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health to renegotiate with UNICEF/AVAT to refund the balance of US$81,870,379.80.
“We noted that the Ministry of Health on behalf of the Government of Ghana paid an amount of US$120,192,379.80 to UNICEF/AVAT for the supply of vaccines. However, 5,109,600.00 doses of vaccines valued at US$38,322,000.00 were supplied to the National Cold Room leaving a difference of US$81,870,379.80 with UNICEF/AVAT.
“We recommended that the Chief Director of the Ministry of Health should renegotiate with UNICEF/AVAT to recover the outstanding amount,” parts of the Auditor-General’s Report said. Among other things, the Auditor-General reports that the Ministry of Health without the approval of the Central Tender Review Committee increased the cost of five contracts with a total contract sum of GH¢24,256,500.00 by GH¢4,017,000.00 through variation orders. The Auditor-General has asked the Chief Director of the Ministry to seek retroactive approval to avoid disallowance of such variation amount.
In July 2021, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, admitted a motion from the Minority, asking for the constitution of a bi-partisan committee to investigate the purchase of Sputnik V vaccines by the Health Ministry.
The Minority, had tabled an urgent motion, calling on parliament to probe the Sputnik V vaccine transaction. The motion was based on reports that the government had agreed to purchase the vaccine at $19 per dose instead of $10 per dose.
The sponsors of the bill, including then Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, say they want to understand the procurement processes that were used, as well as demand value for money for the Ghanaian taxpayer.
On June 3, 2021, the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) published that it had documented how intermediaries have obtained the Sputnik vaccine and are re-selling it at a premium.
“Through investigations in countries including Ghana, Russia, Pakistan, Guyana and Iraq, VG has been able to document how the Russian vaccines have travelled via a sheik in the Emirates and around the world,” VG reported.
VG’s report investigates the involvement of two persons of interest to Norwegian authorities – Per Morten Hansen (59), a man charged with money laundering and tax offences in Norway and Umar Farooq Zahoor (45), a wanted man in Norway for what the police believe is his role in the spectacular Nordea fraud in 2010, where the conspirators emptied the account of a super-rich widow.
For Ghanaians, the brow raisers from the VG report were the price per dose of the Sputnik V vaccine – going for $19; meaning full vaccination of one person would cost $38 minimum.
The other matter of concern for Ghanaians was that the Ministry of Health, had contracted the “Private Office” of Sheik Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum (34) for the supply of Russian-made vaccines.
Coincidentally, when Sheik Al Maktoum, sold the controversial AMERI Plant to Ghana via the company Ameri Group in 2015, Farooq Zahoor and the Sheik, both signed the agreement.
These details provoked some MPs on the minority side of parliament to move the motion for a bi-partisan committee to probe the contract between the government and Sheik Ahmed Al Maktoum.
In the aftermath of the VG report, details of other contracts filtered through. It has emerged that the Ministry of Health, signed a separate agreement with SL Global Limited for the supply of five million doses of the same Sputnik V vaccine. In the agreement, the government agreed to pay $26 dollars per dose of the vaccine, meaning a complete pack will cost $52 per person.
Documents showed that this agreement was amended to change the price per dose from $26 to $18.50.
In that agreement, Cedar Point Chemist Limited – a pharmaceutical importer and wholesaler – was designated the “Marketing Authorisation Holder” of the vaccine in Ghana.
Details of a third deal are filtering through. This third deal, our sources claim, has not been fully consummated but could be pushed through soon. It involves a proposal from UK-based Gemcorp Capital LLP in partnership with Cedar Point Company Limited (the same one appointed in the SL Global deal) which was submitted in April this year to supply 15 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine at a cost of $12.50 per dose.
A letter dated April 22, 2021, relating to this deal was written to the Minister of Health by Atanas Bostandjiev, the Group CEO of Gemcorp. It was copied to the Secretary to President Akufo-Addo.
It was discovered that there were more contracts on the books for the Sputnik V vaccine with some posing corruption risks, not assuring value for money, and appearing as take or pay agreements. Besides, the international agreements did not go through parliament.
It was also discovered that SL Global Limited, which many Ghanaians considered to be a Ghanaian company, cannot be classified as a local company.
Company registration records, reveal that Arthur Kweku Ackah-Yensu and Great Continent Holdings International Limited (a company registered in the Gulf) had equal shares in SL Global Company Limited.
Ghanaian company and land ownership laws, stipulate that a company registered in Ghana with a minimum of 40 per cent foreign ownership, shall be classified as a foreign firm. Therefore, the agreement should have been submitted to Parliament for ratification.
Before VG published its report on Ghana’s purchase of Sputnik V vaccines in the contract with the Private Office of Sheikh Al Maktoum, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, claimed the presence of “snake oil salesmen” in the corridors of the Ministry of Health.
At the parliamentary probe, Mr Agyemang-Manu, admitted he did not do due diligence before contracting with the private office of one Emirati Sheikh, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum for 3.4 million doses of Sputnik V at a unit cost of $19.
Appearing before the parliamentary committee, Mr Agyemang-Manu, said the exigencies of COVID-19, impaired his ability to do things as he ordinarily would.
“Those were not normal times and I was seriously in a situation that didn’t make me think properly, the way you think that now I will actually abreast myself with the situation”, he told the committee on Monday, July 19.
The minister said, the whole deal was reached out of desperation and frustration on the part of his office, the reason he did not seek parliamentary approval for the international transaction as is required under Article 181 (5) of the Constitution of Ghana 1992.
“February, 78, March 56, there were the numbers and if you, any of us here were the Health Minister at the time, I think you might have taken certain decisions that on hindsight or going forward you may not have done those things This was the environment that I found myself in. Out of desperation, frustration, so many things and people were dying we needed to protect our citizens”. Other times, he had attempted to justify why he had to ignore the advice of the Attorney-General on the matter.
