Agyeman-Manu has suffered at Health Ministry – President Akufo-Addo

The president’s comment is coming on the back of public calls for the health minister to step down for breaching procurement rules in the Sputnik V deal.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has praised Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu for his tremendous contribution to Ghana’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing a gathering in the Bono Region as part of his two-day tour, Akufo-Addo said: “There are a lot of people from the Bono Region in my government including the health minister who is currently receiving a slap from Ghanaians.”

“He is an indigene from Dormaa, he has really suffered in that Health Ministry and he is still suffering.”

The president’s comment is coming on the back of public calls for the minister to step down for breaching procurement rules in pursuing the botched Sputnik V contract.

Minister on leave

Meanwhile, the Office of the President granted the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, leave he requested on 28 July 2021.

The period of his requested leave was for two weeks, between 16 and 30 of August 2021. Agyeman-Manu would resume his duties as Health Minister on the 31 of August 2021 after his leave. The Health Minister’s leave is to enable him “deal with pressing constituency and family issues”.

There have been speculations that the Health Minister has requested to proceed on leave as a result of political pressure over the role he played in the botched Sputnik V vaccine procurement contract.

Reacting to the recommendations of the Alexander Afenyo-Markin-led ad-hoc parliamentary committee set up to investigate the controversial Sputnik V vaccine deal, OccupyGhana for example has said it does not believe the emergency created by the pandemic was sufficient reason for the health minister to breach the country’s procurement laws.

“We do not think that the emergency created by the pandemic and the urgency required, constituted sufficient reasons to bypass all of these steps that are required by law. As Parliament has indicated, it would have acted with the speed and urgency that the emergency required, had the request for approval been made to it,” OccupyGhana’s statement dated 9 August 2021 said.

Dismissal

The pressure group OccupyGhana has called for the resignation or dismissal of the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, over the botched Sputnik V vaccine procurement contract.

Reacting to the recommendations of the Alexander Afenyo-Markin-led ad-hoc parliamentary committee set up to investigate the controversial Sputnik V vaccine deal, OccupyGhana said it does not believe the emergency created by the pandemic was sufficient reason for the Health Minister to breach the law.

“We do not think that the emergency created by the pandemic, and the urgency required, constituted sufficient reasons to bypass all of these steps that are required by law.

“As Parliament has indicated, it would have acted with the speed and urgency that the emergency required, had the request for approval been made to it,” OccupyGhana’s statement dated 9 August 2021 said.

In its recommendations, the ad-hoc parliamentary committee charged the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to retrieve some US$2.85 million paid so far under the contract.