Edudzi Tamekloe wants COVID-19 testing at KIA to be handed to Noguchi
• An NDC lawyer wants government to abrogate Coronavirus testing contract with Frontiers Health Services
• Edudzi Tameklo wants the responsibility to be handed over to the Noguchi research institute
• He contends that doing so will help build the lab into one of the best globally
Lawyer Edudzi Tameklo, lawyer and member of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, has called for the abrogation of Coronavirus testing contract at the Kotoka International Airport, KIA.
According to him, the infamous Frontiers Health Services contract, has fetched the businessman enough returns on his investment and that it was time to hand the contract to Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, NMIMR.
GhanaWeb monitored comments he made on the Tuesday, August 3, 2021 edition of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme.
“I am worried about this whole testing regime and I have made it clear on this very platform. I have not hidden my complete disagreement with the work of Frontiers. I have never hidden that. I still believe that it is not late to abrogate that contract and allow Noguchi to do it.
“Having made over 37 million dollars, I think it is good initial investment over whatever investment that initially they might have put into it,” he added.
He stressed that with the end date of the pandemic unknown, “it cannot be in perpetuity an opportunity for them to make money. I think the time has come that we should bring Noguchi,” he added.
He also pointed out that with Noguchi owned by the government, all profits will go to the government coffers.
He said even if government is to sink in 10 million dollars as investment, the profits accrued will do a lot for the institute in the areas of staff motivation and the acquisition of more equipments that could propel Noguchi to becoming one of the best labs in the world.
“The president’s friend has made enough, the time has come for Ghanaians to take over the management of this whole thing.”
Co-panellist on the show, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, a member of the COVID-19 taskforce, said it was a good suggestion that could be looked at in the general scheme of events.
“It is not a bad suggestion because when we started this COVID, there were no private labs, everything was going to Noguchi and these public reference labs.
“Today we have PCR labs at SSNIT, Immigration headquarters and at the Ghana airport and it is the Ministry that okays such labs, hence it is something that can be looked at,” Okoe-Boye added.