Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has taken issue with the Ministry of Health’s handling of his petition concerning the controversial $34 million ambulance spare parts transaction.
Mr. Ablakwa accused former Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu and former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of plotting to defraud the state through Service Ghana Auto Group Limited.
He said that, considering the company’s recent incorporation, there are questions about the company’s ability to deliver, and that Ofori-Atta approved the purchase just five days before he left office, prompting accusations of wrongdoing.
The MP subsequently petitioned the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate the deal, which has been acknowledged by the OSP.
In a statement released on Thursday, July 25, the Ministry of Health refuted claims that it paid $34.9 million to Service Ghana Auto Group Limited and expressed its willingness to provide further information to further clarify the situation.
But Mr. Ablakwa called the Ministry’s statement “hollow, bogus, dishonest, and disingenuous” in an interview with Eyewitness News on Citi FM.
He criticised the Ministry for manipulating his request in order to sidestep the true problem. Ablakwa underlined that the $4.9 million payment was not mentioned in his appeal, raising concerns about the Ministry’s decision to handle a claim that does not exist.
He highlighted the reason no one was willing to sign the declaration by expressing his dissatisfaction with the Ministry’s disregard for Ghanaians and their intelligence.
“To be very sincere with you, this is the most hollow, the most porous, bogus, the most dishonest and the most disingenuous statement I’ve ever come across. Who in Ghana has said 4.9 million dollars has been paid, who has said that? They are so fond of setting their own questions and proceeding to answer them, deliberately distorting the issue so that it will distract us from the real matter.”
“Look, we have had enough of the disrespect of Ghanaian people, the insulting of our intelligence, we’ve had enough. No wonder nobody at the Ministry could put their name under the statement, nobody could sign that statement. Look we are in no mood for this disrespect and this deliberate obfuscation.”