Refund does not exonerate Agyeman-Manu, he must resign or be sacked

Policy think tank Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) has argued that the refund by the Emirati at the centre of the botched Sputnik V vaccine deal, is not enough to exonerate the Health Minister from wrongdoing.

The Emirati at the centre of the botched Sputnik V vaccine deal, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, has fulfilled his promise to refund $ 2,470,000 to Ghana.

This came after the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, wrote a letter to demand a refund for unsupplied vaccines.

Ghana had already taken delivery of 20,000 out of 300,000 doses of the vaccine, but following a probe by an ad-hoc bi-partisan committee, a refund was recommended.

Reacting to the latest development, Executive Director of ILAPI Peter Bismark Kwofie suggested the Minister breached several laws in signing the agreement and must be punished for that.

He posited that the Minister breach four different procurement laws failing to seek cabinet and parliamentary approvals.

He said the call for the resignation or dismissal of the Minister is justified.

He said we could allow the breach of procurement laws in a country where democracy and the rule of law are upheld.

Mr. Peter Bismark Kwofie further added that the Minister lied when he appeared before the committee that probed the matter, thus must be held to account.

He stressed that whether there is a refund or not, the Minister must be sacked because he was not vigilant and breached several laws in signing the agreement.

He, however, admitted it would not be surprising for the President not to sack the Minister because we have come to a level where political leaders have normalised corruption and breaches in procurement procedures.