Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu
•Vitus Azeem wants Agyeman-Manu investigated on if he indeed said that Ghana did pay any money to Sheikh Al-Makhtoum when he appeared before the committee
•He suspects that Agyeman-Manu attempted to suppress the truth on the matter
•He believes the Health Minister must be sanction if found guilty of lying before the committee
Anti-corruption campaigner Vitus Azeems has disclosed that Heath Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu should face the full rigors of the law if he is found to have made false statements before the Parliamentary committee that investigated the botched Sputnik V vaccine deal.
Vitus Azeem will not jump into conclusion that Agyeman-Manu committed perjury by lying to the committee but would want further investigations into the issue.
Azeem suspects that Kwaku Agyeman-Manu attempted to hide the truth of payment that was made by the Ministry to Sheikh Al Makhtoum and would want certain questions answered.
“So it appears that initially there were attempts to try to suppress the truth, but with the pressures mounted on the Minister and the Ministry, they are now coming out to expose these things,” he said on Joy Prime.
“Is he saying that he and his Director are not in tune with how things are happening in the Ministry, can the Minister of Finance just go ahead and pay monies without getting instructions from the Minister of Health?” he wondered.
“Somebody initiated the transaction, somebody initiated the request for payment of the monies, that person should be the one to tell Parliament that yes, I requested and that I have followed up until the monies have been paid.”
“We don’t expect that to happen among government institutions. If it turns out that, that was not the truth, that is enough for you to be sanctioned.”
Vitus Azeem said that the onus lies on Agyeman-Manu to convince Ghanaians that as at the time he faced the committee, he was unaware of payment made by the ministry to the Sheikh
“And so as much as we think that the Minister should be sanctioned, if he can prove that certain things took place behind his back, then those people who were engaged in such transactions should also be brought to book.
“But of course at the end of the day, the Minister is the overall head of the Ministry and he should be responsible,” he said.
“It’s now left to him to take actions on the subordinates that probably tried to undermine him if that was the situation. But for now, let’s say the Minister did not tell the truth to Parliament and so he is subject to some sanctions,” he maintained.