Sputnik-V: Abrogate contract with middleman; Russia ready to deal directly with Ghana - Minority

The Minority in Parliament says it’s own investigations have established that Russian authorities have at all times been willing to deal directly with Ghana contrary to what the government has claimed in relation to the purchase of Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccines through a middleman.

“The Minority’s own investigations into this Sputnik V scandal is that the Russian authorities have at all times been willing to deal directly with Ghana contrary to what the Akufo-Addo government has been claiming.”

The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu said this at a press conference in Accra today (Thursday).

They have therefore asked the government to abrogate the contract with the middleman and deal directly with the Russian authorities.

Justification

The Minority stated that the justification being provided by the Minister of Health to purchase 3.4 million doses of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine using a middleman at a unit cost of US$19 instead of US$10 was unconvincing and an embarrassment to Ghana.

It said the purported Vaccine Supply Agreement between the Ministry of Health, signed by the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu and H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum on March 9, 2021 violated Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution which required Parliamentary approval for international agreements of that nature.

Besides, it said the purchase of the vaccines from Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum did not guarantee the safety and potency of those vaccines for the people of Ghana.

“Indeed, WHO has warned all countries including Ghana to desist from the purchase of vaccines using intermediaries because it has the tendency of resulting in sub-standard vaccines that can be harmful to
our compatriots,” it said.

Addressing a press conference on overpriced Sputnik V vaccines in Parliament today, the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said there still existed other channels such as the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, COVAX that could assist Ghana to obtain standard and safe vaccines set at a price far lower than the US$19 per dose rip-off.

Read also: Sputnik V US$19 per dose: Ghana was unable to obtain direct supplies from Russia - MoH

Sputnik-V vaccines contract with middlemen not in Ghana’s interest - Minority

Graphic Online's Nana Konadu Agyeman reported from PARLIAMENT HOUSE that the Minority said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) had opened direct engagements with over 30 governments as of February 2021 including African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tunisia, Guinea and Algeria.

“We have a copy of a statement RDIF issued in Moscow confirming this fact,” it said.

Middlemen are imposters

The Minority Leader said the Minority had also established that the dubious middlemen government was dealing with had no authorization on behalf of RDIF or Russian authorities to hold themselves out as agents.

“At best, they are imposters. The NDC caucus can also confirm that these middlemen made no efforts to engage the Russian Embassy when they arrived in Accra. Our government did not also contact them for any due diligence neither were Russian Embassy officials invited into the meetings with these shadowy characters.

“It is worth pointing out that contrary to the claims contained in the official press release of the Ministry of Health dated June 9, 2021, there is no Deputy Russian Ambassador in Ghana,” he said.

He added: “We the minority believe that this contract is not in the interest of Ghanaians and whether payments have been made or not, the contract is null and void and government must as a matter of urgency put in the necessary steps to abrogate the contract.”

Profiteering

The Minority Leader said the government’s attitude now pointed to one of opportunism in exploiting the pandemic to aggregate wealth to family and friends.

“This is naked and blatant opportunism that had led to a situation where we risk our longstanding mutual relations with our diplomatic partners so as to facilitate unconscionable profiteering,” he said.

He questioned why the government had rather, in a bizarre twist, preferred to deal with dubious middlemen of questionable character in its insatiable thirst to profit from vaccine acquisition as revealed by the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang (VG).

Minority concerns

Mr Iddrisu argued that the justification by the Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, was unconvincing to the Ghanaian populace because the decision to purchase vaccines from an intermediary did not guarantee the safety and potency of those vaccines for the people of Ghana.

“Indeed, WHO has warned all countries including Ghana to desist from the purchase of vaccines using intermediaries because it has the tendency of resulting in sub-standard vaccines that can be harmful to our compatriots.

He said it was totally unacceptable for President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has served as Foreign Affairs Minister before, to boldly choose to sidestep diplomatic channels and rather resort to dealing with Russian Institutions through third parties “when we have always had and maintained cordial bilateral relations with the Russian Government.”

Failure to leverage diplomatic ties

He further pointed out that the Foreign Ministry, led by Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, had let the country down.

According to him, the abysmal failure in leveraging historic diplomatic ties with the Russians at a time “we in the Minority have unfettered access to the Russians is most embarrassing.”

“She ought to be fired if she cannot meet the basic expectations of her office. We are more incensed by the terms of these multiple illegal agreements which cruelly short-changed Ghanaians by our government agreeing to pay $19 to $26per jab of Sputnik-V instead of the under $10 other countries and multilateral agencies like the AU purchased the very same vaccine.

“We also intend to explore further avenues under our Constitution and Standing Orders to hold the Health Minister accountable for this graft of international proportions,” he said.

Fleecing nations

Touching on Frontiers Healthcare Services operations at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Mr Iddrisu said the decision to choose the private company at the neglect of reputable public institutions such as Memorial Institute for Medical Research allowed the entity to rake in a colossal $16.3m dollars for charging travellers US$150 for the less sensitive and inferior antigen test.

“Sadly, KIA was handed a paltry $1million. Do note that these fantastic profits for Frontiers are just for the period September to December 2020. January to June this year has not yet been accounted,” he said.