Govt has canceled 'overpriced' Sputnik V deal with middlemen - Agyeman Manu

Govt has canceled 'overpriced' Sputnik V deal with middlemen - Agyeman Manu

  • The Minister for Health has announced that the government has canceled the deal to purchase the overpriced Sputnik V vaccine
  • Kwaku Agyeman Manu said the deal was canceled because the people involved could not meet the deadline
  • He explained that the middlemen requested to cancel since they couldn’t meet the deadline in the agreement after asking for an extension

Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, has announced that the government has canceled the contract to purchase the overpriced Sputnik V COVID-19 through middlemen.

According to the health minister, the contract was terminated because the people involved could not supply the doses procured.

Appearing before the nine-member committee in Parliament, he said the middlemen requested to cancel since they couldn’t meet the deadline in the agreement after asking for an extension.

Govt has canceled 'overpriced' Sputnik V deal with middlemen - Agyeman Manu
Health Minister, Kweku Agyeman Manu Photo credit: Graphic.com.gh(modified by author)
Source: UGC

According to a Starr FM report, the minister further explained that the middlemen asked for an extension of the deadline to July since they could not meet the previous deadline but due to pressure from the government, they called to give verbal notice.

Read also

First Lady wants to look good in the public’s eye by rejecting salary - Okudzeto Ablakwa

“..., after the contract, they told us it would be supplied in two weeks. After two weeks, we went back to them but they said still they haven’t received the vaccines from the manufacturer. So we started engaging them that if that is the matter, they should permit us to withdraw from the contract so that we can do something different and buy vaccines for ourselves.
So we continuously put pressure on them and they gave us [until] July. They later gave us verbal notice that they will not be able to supply any longer, and so we requested that they terminate the agreement, which they have actually done. So, as we sit here, there is no contract between the two of us,” he explained.

Sputnik V wahala

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Ghana was cited by Norwegian news portals in an investigative report for buying the Sputnik V vaccines from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Read also

Rebecca Akufo-Addo rejects salary; set to refund over GHC899k allowance received since 2017

According to the report, it was bought through some businessmen at an overpriced unit cost which was almost double the original price.

The vaccines were purchased at $19 instead of the original buying price of $10.

The Ministry of Health in a statement explained that the vaccines were bought at that price for some peculiar reasons

Enjoy reading our stories? Join YEN.com.gh's Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!

Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh

Authors:
Priscilla Aklorbortu avatar

Priscilla Aklorbortu Priscilla believes the job is the job and must be done well. Priscilla worked as a journalist at the Daily Graphic.