The Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, says 30 ambulances imported into the country to improve ambulance service but have been wasting away at the Air Force Base at the Burma Camp in Accra were rejected by the Mahama administration.
He said the ambulances were rejected on the basis of the fact that they were not fit for purpose.
However, the immediate past Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, has disagreed, arguing that the Akufo-Addo administration was simply refusing to clear the accessories at the Tema Port to have them fixed in the ambulances so that they could make them fit for purpose.
The ambulances, purchased at a cost of about 3.5 million euros, formed part of the first batch of 200 buses which were expected to be procured in 2011 to improve ambulance services.
However, after inspecting the vehicles when they arrived, they were declared unfit for purpose, since they did not come with the necessary equipment and accessories fitted to enable them to function.
Ministers in tango
In separate interviews with the Daily Graphic, Mr Segbefia, in debunking the assertion, said the equipment that should be fitted in the ambulances to make them fit for purpose had been left uncleared at the port and wondered on what basis the current health minister came to the conclusion that the vehicles were not fit to be operated as ambulances.
But Mr Agyeman-Manu refuted those claims, saying that the former Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Aryeetey, rejected the ambulances when they were brought into the country on account of the fact that the specifications required for the ambulances were not what were supplied.
“I have been there to see them for myself. The fittings have no lockers and the materials in them are substandard. How can you call these ambulances?”, the minister questioned.
He said the matter was currently under investigations at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and their findings would establish the veracity of the matter.
Ghana risks paying judgement debt if the contract with the Dubai-based supplier, Big Sea Company Limited, is abrogated because the 30 ambulances have already been paid for.
National Ambulance Service
The Head of Operations of NAS, Mr Foster Ansong-Bridjan, told the Daily Graphic that the service, after realizing the defects in the ambulances, submitted a report to the then government to correct them before the service could take delivery of the buses, but that could not be done.
After the change of government, he said, the Ministry of Health (MoH), after inspecting the ambulances, uncovered some procurement breaches, which were referred to the EOCO for investigations.
“We were at that stage when a change of government was effected. The new government took over and we still expect it to rectify the anomalies with the ambulances before we can take delivery of them,” he stated.
No ambulances
The inadequate number of ambulances in service became an issue and gained currency following the sudden death of the immediate past
Source: Graphic.com
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This guy is an apology of a minister of Ghana. Someone imported an ambulance into Ghana, and is not fitted the equipment ment for an ambulance. As a policy decision you sat down in chilled, bungalow, Office, V8 landcriuser for the vehicles to got rotten. Just fix the accessories for the ambulance to work. A fully equipped Legon Hospital was built with tax payers money, 270 million dollars . You claimed the hospital should not operate because there is no stand by generators. Citi FM exposed you mischievous claim ..Your political vindictive stands is causing good citizens of Ghana to die through some avoidable death.If a party chairman can secure 275 buses. At least an incompetent minister like can secure at least 100 brand new ambulances.
KEEP ON ATTACKING THE FORMER PRESIDENT BECAUSE YOU THINK GHANAIANS WILL ALWAYS BELIEVE WHATEVER LIES YOU BRING UP... YOU ARE THERE TO GOVERN BUT LOOK AT WHAT IT'S TURNED INTO NOW?.. VERY RECKLESS COMMENT COMING FROM THE HEALTH MINISTER
Incompetent Minister, we are tired of Mahama this, Mahama that. You are there to solve problems. Cant he be changed?
INSTEAD OF VOICING OUT IMPORTANT PLANS TO DEVELOP THE NATION,YOU ARE RATHER ATTACKING HIM SO RUDELY. I THINK THE BETTER THING YOU CAN DO IS TO ADVISING HIM TO YIELD POSITIVELY. DIRTY POLITICS WONT HELP US, A WHOLE LOT OF PLAY ON OUR MIND YET WE SEEK TO DEVELOP.WHO EVER YOU ARE PLEASE LETS RESTRAIN FROM SUCH HABIT IF ONLY WE EXPECT TO HAVE GOOD GENERATION AHEAD. OUR LEADERS TOO PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WHATEVER POSITION YOU FIND YOURSELF TO BE IT IS AS A RESULT OF WE(CITIZENS)VOTING OR ELECTING YOU THERE, HAVE HEART AND PLEASE HELP US TOO. THE BETTERMENT OF GHANA IS NOT FOR ONLY YOU OR US BUT FOR OUR NEXT GENERATIONS TO COME.
ONE OF THE NUMEROUS ***barred word*** MINISTER I HAVE EVER KNOWN IN THIS WORLD IS THIS SMELLING AND MORON MAN. SUPERINCOMPETENT ***barred word*** OLD VILLAGE FOOOL.HAVE YOU IMPORTED SOME SINCE YOU BECAME THE HEALTH MINISTER? ***barred word*** BLACK MONKEY FROM A SHITHOLE COUNTRY CALLED GHANA.
this man is the most super-incompetent minister of our generation. only go after wives of people and find them jobs, travel with them under the pretext of personal assistant. he will be exposed soon