President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo after breaking his silence on the public backlash against the embattled Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu cannot be a tacit endorsement of the actions of the Minister who confessed to not having followed due process in his chase for Sputnik V vaccines for the country.
Speaking in the Bono Region on Tuesday, August 10, 2021, during his two-day tour of the area, President Akufo-Addo said, “There are a lot of people from the Bono Region in my government; including the Minister of Health, who is currently receiving slaps [from Ghanaians]. He is an indigene of Dormaa. He has really suffered in that Health Ministry and is still suffering,” he said amidst spontaneous laughter.
But private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu in an interview MyNewsGh.com monitored on Accra-based Joy FM, told host Ernest Manu that the comment of the President can be interpreted to mean two things.
“The reaction of the President at that place is not an indication that Mr. Agyeman-Manu will not be sacked or Mr. Agyeman-Manu will not resign…don’t forget culturally and even ethically, Mr. Agyeman-Manu is a big opinion leader there”, Lawyer Martin Kpebu who is soliciting citizen support to petition parliament to charge Agyeman-Manu of perjury said.
“…So how on Earth will the President be going to stand there and say Mr Agyeman-Manu you did all of these wrong? Naturally, he would have to make a light moment of it and then when the President to Accra, he would do the needful”, he opined.
The Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has come under intense criticisms for breaching procurement processes while trying to secure Sputnik V vaccines for Ghana.
This is because Kwaku Agyeman-Manu confessed before the committee that he signed the agreement with the middlemen without parliamentary or cabinet approval. He also did not seek approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) prior to finalizing the agreement with the middlemen, although the Attorney General is said on the record to have advised against the deal.
The ad-hoc bipartisan parliamentary committee that probed the deal recommended among other things that the finance minister takes steps to recover over $2 million paid to Sheikh Ah Makhtoum for undelivered vaccines.
The Sheikh has responded to a letter from the health minister requesting a refund since paid the money back to the government chest.