• He indicated the minister should have gone a long time
• Martin Kpebu stated that Kwaku Agyeman-Manu is not the only Ghanaian to be a Minister of Health
Lawyer Martin Kpebu has said Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health has demonstrated that he is not fit to be at the ministry, following revelations from the probe of the procurement of Sputnik V vaccines.
He told Joy FM on Friday, August 6, that, “from day one, it has always been clear that this man should have gone a long time. The more he talks, the more he demonstrates that he is not fit for the position.”
Kpebu explained, “he has all these technical advisers from the Ministry, a Chief Director, lawyer and so on, and yet he chooses to work alone, lone ranger. So lone ranger falls into trouble, he should take the fall.”
Martin Kpebu reiterated that Kwaku Agyeman-Manu is not the only Ghanaian who can serve the nation in his capacity as the Minister of Health.
“It will serve him well to just leave, walk away from the job, the embarrassment he is causing all of us is too much,” he stressed.
The nine-member ad hoc committee set up by Parliament to probe the procurement of Sputnik vaccines, has revealed that the health minister paid 50% of the contract sum to Messrs Al Maktoum prior to appearing before them.
This was after Agyeman-Manu had denied under oath before the committee that the Government of Ghana had made no payment but the committee established that an amount of US $2,850,000 out of US $5,700,000 was paid to the intermediaries the ministry dealt with.
In their final report, the ad hoc committee stated, they are “of the opinion that even if the situation in the country at the time the Agreement was signed was that of an emergency, due process of law should have been followed because Parliament would have treated the issue with the urgency it deserved and the appropriate action would have been taken accordingly. The Agreement would have been taken under certificate of urgency in accordance with the Standing Orders and the practices of the House.
“The point must also be made that, even if it was an emergency, the Minister should have found time to communicate effectively and engage with the Committee on Health. The extensive engagement would have saved the Ministry from the negative reactions from the citizenry and some Members of Parliament.”
The committee recommended that “in future, any such transaction, whether local or international, be subjected to broader stakeholder consultations and should be taken through due process of law including Parliamentary approval.
“Other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should take a cue from the recommendation, not only in the case of Agreements but also on issues relating to policies and programmes to be implemented."
Meanwhile, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance has been tasked by the committee to take steps to recover US $2,850,000 being the cost of the Sputnik V vaccines paid by the ministry to the intermediaries.
Martin Kpebu