The Minority in Parliament is deeply concerned about the manner in which government ascribed onto itself powers beyond the remit of our laws to sign a contract to procure Sputnik V vaccines from an irregular source.
Early this year as part of the review processes leading to the approval of this year’s budget, the Minister of Health presented to the Select Committee on Health estimates justifying an allocation of $420 million dollars for the procurement of 42 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Ghanaians. The Minister before the committee assured that the ceiling price per dose of COVID-19 vaccine would not exceed $10 and expects most bulk purchases to even be lower.
In addition, the Minister of Health on behalf of government also furnished the committee a vaccine deployment plan that had two scenarios. One was a worst case scenario that reduced the first phase of vaccinations from vaccinating over 7 million Ghanaians to a reduced number slightly above 1.5million by middle of June 2021.
The Minority in parliament were made to believe that government was going to demonstrate competence by working through appropriate channels using bilateral and multilateral relations with countries and their manufacturers to secure the much needed vaccines for Ghanaians.
We were also assured of regular updates on the state of affairs with regards to procurement and deployment of coronavirus vaccines. However, since March this year, we have not received any information as to why government is behind its own scheduled plan of deployment or any notice indicating that government has now decided to employ the services of private individuals and companies to try and secure vaccines for the people of Ghana.
We were therefore shocked by the publication on VG, a Norwegian news portal on the 3rd of June this year, that government through the Ministry of Health has signed an agreement with a private business man from Dubai to procure Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines sidestepping regular channels and resorting middle-men.
We all know that procurement of vaccines, especially for COVID-19, is done on a government to government basis, or agreements signed directly with manufacturers or procured through multilateral agreements with agencies such as the AU, UNICEF, the EU and other international agencies and not sold to individuals or private companies.
This raises a lot of questions as to the source of these vaccines, their efficacy and whether the quality control mechanisms required by the manufacturer has been duly followed to guarantee the high levels of safety expected of such vaccines. There are also issues about whether the supplier of the vaccine is a regular source and is authorized to purchase and resell sputnik V vaccines etc.
We are also deeply concerned about the inflated price at which government is procuring these vaccines. A 90% markup on any product is extraordinary in any business transaction and it is highly unlikely when the manufacturer has issued a statement to the effect that the price per dose should not exceed $10 on the international market.
On Wednesday’s press statement issued by the Ministry and signed by the Chief Director, a feeble attempt was made to somehow justify the price build-up from the manufacturer’s recommended price of $10 per dose to the final price for Ghanaians of $19 per dose by the inclusion of elements such as insurance, special storage charges and others. However, in coming to a manufacturer’s recommended price, most manufacturers factor in all these elements before giving a recommended price.
The cardinal question then is, why is government contracting with a businessman who may not be an authorized agent of the manufacturer, the Russian Direct Investment Bank or the Russian government and is that a regular channel for governments to transact business with Russian institutions?
It is trite knowledge that Ghana has and maintains a strong diplomatic relation with the Russian Federation. It is therefore shocking that under this long-standing umbrella of friendship and mutual cooperation, Ghana would rather opt to use third parties or the black market when dealing with the Russian government or its institutions. This speaks poorly of the diplomatic prowess of our former Minister for Foreign Affairs now President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
Also the FDA has giving authorization for some clinical trials on Sputnik Light to be conducted this year. Why should Ghana dealing directly with the manufacturer of Sputnik light struggle to purchase Sputnik V vaccines for its citizens from the same manufacturer?
All indications surrounding this deal points to an attempt to rip-off the Ghanaian taxpayer and maximize profit for some private individuals in government and their foreign partners. The AU bought 300million doses of Sputnik V for $9.75 per dose. Slovakia and Hungary which are much smaller countries than Ghana and in need of smaller quantities have all purchased Sputnik V vaccine for approximately $10. Why should Ghana pay more?
Why should Ghana pay the price of 2 Sputnik V vaccines for 1?
We are aware that government is making arrangements with some Ghanaian companies to purchase Sputnik V vaccines at prices well below $15. Why would government therefore opting to stay with an agreement that requires the Ghanaian taxpayer to pay $19 per dose?
Also, this agreement involves foreign counterparts and as required by our law, it should be brought to parliament for ample scrutiny and approval before being implemented. The reasons why government would choose to side-step this provision is unknown to us and very disturbing to say the least.
Although there have been no regular updates with regards to vaccine procurement or deployment, evidence on the ground points to the undeniable fact that government is well behind its own scheduled vaccination deployment plan even when we consider the worst case scenario. Experts having been giving signals of grave concerns about a looming third wave and yet nothing seems to happen.
Today is the 11th of June and government has not been able to commence any of the mass immunization campaigns it promised at the beginning of the year. All we have done as a country is immunization of some selected groups not more than 1 million within our population.
There are also concerns among Ghanaians who took AstraZeneca as their first jab now that the supply of same is becoming almost illusive. Their genuine concerns on the effectiveness of mixing and matching vaccines from different manufacturers needs to be addressed by government as soon as possible.
The Minority in Parliament would urge government to reconsider both the terms of this contract with particular emphasis on price and work assiduously through proper diplomatic and approved channels to secure COVID-19 vaccines for Ghanaians.
This contract is unconstitutional, null and void and government should abrogate and refrain from making any payment with respect to this contract before laying the entirety of the contract before parliament for scrutiny and subsequent approval.
