Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye
The Minister for Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has rubbished the allegations from Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, who accused former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta and former Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu of colluding with Service Ghana Auto Group Limited to defraud the state.
According to the Minister, the Bank of Ghana has not made any payments concerning the $34 million ambulance spare parts deal with Service Ghana Auto Group Limited.
The controversy began when Mr. Ablakwa accused the government and SGAGL of engaging in a “rip-off” deal.
The NDC MP recently claimed that Ofori-Atta approved the deal just five days before leaving office, raising concerns about possible impropriety and questioning the company’s capability to deliver due to its recent establishment.
The MP claimed that former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta had hastily approved payment of $34.9 million for the procurement of spare parts for the ambulances, asserting that this amount, approximately US$113,000 per ambulance, was significantly higher than the cost of acquiring new ambulances.
He further alleged that $10 million had already been disbursed to SGAGL.
However, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) later clarified that no payment had been made on the letter of credit established for $10 million, as the necessary demand for payment had not been made.
Dr. Okoe Boye, speaking during a session with the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament on August 1, 2024 denied that Service Ghana Auto Group Limited had received the $34 million payment.
He explained that in conversation with a Deputy Governor, noting, “I spoke to one of the Deputy Governors who I had a working relationship with when I was at Health Insurance. The Deputy Governor informed me that not even a dollar has been given to the provider.”
“She used some terms that it is a letter of credit and that payment will only be made once the provider has performed and supplied parts to certain standards. The governor made me understand that they have the letter of credit, but no payment has been made”, the Minister stated.
Meanwhile, the Service Ghana Auto Group Limited (SGAGL) has also refuted allegations of inflated costs in its contract for the after-sales service and maintenance of 307 ambulances, following the allegations made by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who alleged financial improprieties surrounding the procurement and maintenance of the ambulances.
SGAGL stated that the allegations raised by the MP are baseless.
In a statement released on Thursday, August 1, 2024, SGAGL, said it is an SPV of a consortium of seven companies that participated in a competitive procurement process, not sole-sourced, and was adjudged on merit to procure and provide after-sales service and maintenance for 307 Mercedes Benz Sprinter ambulances for the National Ambulance Service (NAS),” the statement read.
SGAGL also addressed this point in their press release, stating, “the $34.9m, of which Letters of Credit (LC) were established for $10m, is falsely assigned to cover only mechanical parts, and the figure was again deceitfully allotted at about $113,000 worth of spare parts per ambulance.”
SGAGL stated that the initial competitive procurement process was initiated by the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives in November 2018. The process invited tenders for 275 units of 4×4 ambulances, later varied to 4×2 for 307 vehicles.
“A total of 16 companies participated, including the seven companies that eventually formed the Consortium during the pre-tender workshop round,” the statement detailed.
The companies that formed the consortium included Luxury World Auto Group Limited, Elok Consult, RDC Company Limited, Beft Engineering Works Limited, Prestige Era Company Limited, Bluemix Company Limited, and Quality Supply and Builders Company Limited.
BY Daniel Bampoe
