The Minority in Parliament has called for a bipartisan probe into the procurement of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia through middlemen.
Addressing journalists today, Friday, June 24, 2021, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu said the contracts breach Article 181 (5) of the Constitution.
He averred that such international transactions must secure parliamentary approval and thus must be halted immediately.
Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu recently justified reasons why the government has signed two contracts for the supply of Sputnik V vaccines at $19 and $18.5 through middlemen.
He had noted that the decision to use middlemen was due to the difficulties in securing vaccines through government to government arrangements which could have driven down the price.
But The Minority says the deal must be probed.
Read below the concerns raised by the Minority on the vaccines;
This argument by the Minister is unconvincing to the Ghanaian populace
because the decision to purchase vaccines from an intermediary does
not guarantee the safety and potency of these vaccines for the people
of this country.
Indeed, WHO has warned all countries including Ghana to desist from
the purchase of vaccines using intermediaries because it has the tendency of resulting in sub-standard vaccines that can be harmful to our compatriots.
In any case, there still exists other channels such as the WHO, UNICEF,
GAVI, COVAX etc. that can assist Ghana to obtain standard and safe
vaccines set at a price far lower than the US$19 per dose rip-off.
The Minority’s own investigations into this Sputnik V scandal is that the
Russian authorities have at all times been willing to deal directly with
Ghana contrary to what the Akufo-Addo Government has been
claiming.
Indeed our checks indicate that the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has opened direct engagements with over 30 Governments as at February this year including African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tunisia, Guinea and Algeria. We have a copy of a statement RDIF issued in Moscow confirming this fact.
We have also established that the dubious middlemen government is dealing with have no authorization on behalf of RDIF or Russian authorities to hold themselves out as agents. At best, they are imposters.
The NDC caucus can also confirm that these middlemen made no efforts to engage the Russian Embassy when they arrived in Accra. Our government did not also contact them for any due diligence neither were Russian Embassy officials invited into the meetings with these shadowy characters.
It is worth pointing out that contrary to the claims contained in the official press release of the Ministry of Health dated 9th June, 2021, there is no Deputy Russian Ambassador in Ghana.
Even more troubling, the purported Vaccine Supply Agreement between Ghana’s Health Ministry signed by Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu and
H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum on 9th March, 2021 violates Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution which requires Parliamentary approval for international agreements of this nature.
It is totally unacceptable that President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has served as Foreign Affairs Minister, boldly chose to sidestep diplomatic channels and rather resorted to dealing with Russian Institutions through third parties when we have always had and maintained cordial bilateral
relations with the Russian Government.
It is also clear to us that our Foreign Ministry led by Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey have let this country down. The abysmal failure in leveraging historic diplomatic ties with the Russians at a time we in the Minority have unfettered access to the Russians is most embarrassing. She ought to be fired if she cannot meet the basic expectations of her office.
We are more incensed by the terms of these multiple illegal agreements
which cruelly short-change Ghanaians by our government agreeing to
pay $19 to $26per jab of Sputnik V instead of the under $10 other
countries and multilateral agencies like the AU purchased the very same
vaccine.
We the minority believe that this contract is not in the interest of Ghanaians and whether payments have been made or not, the contract is null and void and government must as a matter of urgency put in the necessary steps to abrogate the contract. We also intend to explore further avenues under our Constitution and Standing Orders to hold the Health Minister accountable for this graft of international proportions.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
