How NPP 2016 manifesto influenced ambulance trial

…Akufo-Addo, Agyeman Manu, Hawa Koomson captured in procurement craze

The ongoing trial involving Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa, over the purchase of 200 ambulances, has been drilled down to a manifesto pledge, a procurement craze by the Akufo-Addo government and the perennial practice by Ghanaian politicians to distance themselves from the policies of their predecessors.

Central to this case is the Akufo-Addo government’s decision to reject the ambulances procured by the previous Mahama administration and instead pursue its own procurement initiative, aligning with its 2016 manifesto pledge.

The Akufo-Addo government, rejected Jakpa’s 200 ambulances, claiming they were faulty. Despite this, the government proceeded to purchase 307 new ambulances, distributing them to 275 constituencies as part of its “1-Constituency-1-Ambulance” initiative, managed by the National Ambulance Service.

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), in its 2016 manifesto, had promised to strengthen the National Ambulance Service and chose not to inherit the ambulances procured by the Mahama administration through Richard Jakpa and his Dubai-based partners, Big Seas.

Irrespective of the cost of Jakpa’s vehicles to the Ghanaian taxpayer, the Akufo-Addo government, shoved them aside and started its procurement process with Tina Mensah, travelling the world in search of the NPP’s ambulances. 

Mavis Hawa Koomson, the then Minister for Special Development Initiatives, was to say each of the 307 new ambulances commissioned on Tuesday, January 29, 2019, by President Nana Akufo-Addo, was procured at $133,000.

 According to her, the amount for each of the ambulances, includes all procurement processes and insurance, but the suppliers remain a mystery to date.

The Minister on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, reiterated “Each of the ambulances cost $133,000 with two years warranty and full premium insurance being handled by a local company”.

Jakpa, who is now the third accused in the ongoing ambulance case trial has disclosed to the Accra High Court where he is being prosecuted that he was told in the face by the former Minister for Health, Kweku Agyeman Manu that, their (NPP) businessmen are going to order their own version of ambulances so that they can make money.

With this in mind, Jakpa, said the former Minister said, the NDC businessmen, who started the initiative should come and clear their mess.

Interestingly, President Akufo-Addo, while commissioning the three hundred and seven (307) new, state-of-the-art ambulances to the National Ambulance Service, in fulfilment of his 2016 campaign pledge, rubbished the procurement that happened under his predecessor.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the 307 ambulances are “fitted with advanced life support equipment and tracking devices, to be distributed to 275 constituencies, i.e. 1-Constituency-1-Ambulance, to be managed by the National Ambulance Service, and the remainder of thirty-two (32) ambulances to the headquarters of the Service.”

Presenting the ambulances, at a ceremony at the Independence Square, the President noted that, when he took office in January 2017, the National Ambulance Service had 130 stations, 10 regional control rooms across the country, and only 55 ‘semi-functioning’ ambulances.

“In December 2015, two hundred (200) ambulances were supposedly purchased by the Mahama government, out of which only thirty (30) arrived in the country. As though this was not enough, the thirty (30) were declared “not fit for purpose because they had cardinal defects and did not come with any medical equipment. This was completely unacceptable, and my government was determined to rectify this unhappy state of affairs,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo continued, “It is appropriate that the National Ambulance Service, established, in 2004, under the New Patriotic Party-led government of that outstanding Ghanaian statesman, the 2nd President of the 4th Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, is re-equipped, re-tooled and revamped under another NPP-led government, this time of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo”. 

The presentation of the 307 ambulances, the President said, means that “as against the scenario whereby one (1) ambulance served approximately five hundred and twenty-four thousand (524,000) people at the end of December 2016, today, we have a much-improved ratio of one ambulance serving approximately eighty-four thousand (84,000) people.”

Additionally, the President revealed that 145 new ambulance stations will be created, bringing the total to 275 stations, ensuring that the country has a 1-Constituency-1-Ambulance Station situation.

“We promised in the 2016 NPP Manifesto to strengthen the National Ambulance Service, and we are doing just that,” he added.

Towards addressing the challenges confronting the Ambulance Service, President Akufo-Addo noted that, firstly, the Ministry of Finance, has provided financial clearance for the National Ambulance Service to recruit and train 1,477 emergency medical technicians.

Out of this number, he said that 577, have already been recruited, with the process for recruiting the 900 underway.

Secondly, the President revealed that the National Ambulance Service Bill, which identifies funding sources for the National Ambulance Service, is currently before the Cabinet, and will soon be forwarded to Parliament for consideration and enactment, after Cabinet approval.

Thirdly, President Akufo-Addo stated that the government has provided a digitised state-of-the-art ambulance dispatch management system, integrated with the national digital property addressing system, whereby all calls to the ambulance service will be routed through a computer system, which will automatically generate the digital address location of the caller to enable the control centre determine straightaway the nearest ambulance to dispatch.

“It will also allow the ambulance to determine easily the nearest healthcare facility suitable for the emergency. This system will also allow the ambulance, when dispatched, to navigate, without difficulty, using the dispatch system in the ambulance, straight to the location of the caller,” he said.

The President noted also that the dispatch management system will provide interconnectivity among the various ambulance stations and the dispatch centers, as well as the dispatch centers and the receiving health facilities, adding that such a system will enhance the response time of the ambulances, and, thereby, improve patient outcomes.

Government, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering, has succeeded in getting a unique emergency number for all providers of emergency services in the country, with the Police Service, Fire Service and the National Ambulance Service, all, in the past, having different emergency numbers.

“I am happy to announce that, thankfully, we have merged all the emergency numbers to one number, which is 112. For any form of emergency, either Police Service, Fire Service or Ambulance Service, the number to dial on all mobile networks is 112,” he said.

The President appealed to Ghanaians to ensure that this improvement in the provision of emergency services is not abused, adding that “we are told that 90% of calls made to the providers of emergency services are usually prank calls. This is not right, as it only endangers the lives of Ghanaians in need”.

President Akufo-Addo assured that the Government will ensure that the needed infrastructure is provided to the Paramedic and Emergency Care Training School, at Nkenkaasu, to help ensure that it serves its purpose of training paramedics in the country and West Africa, and also serves as a refresher course centre for emergency care training for doctors, nurses and other paramedics in the country and West Africa.

“I call upon all Regional Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, as well as all health officials, to provide the needed co-operation and support to make the operationalization of these ambulances a success, and also ensure their satisfactory maintenance,” he added.

The businessman also told the Court that, Mr Agyeman Manu told him that the issues about the ambulance were no more in his hands but in the headquarters of his party.

“The Minister of Health, Hon. Agyemang Manu (PW3) told me in my face that he has seen the letter (Exhibit 18 for A3) in the Ministry and that I must understand that this is a new government and the ambulance case had been taken out of his hands and it is now being handled by his party’s headquarters and that they are also going to get their businessmen to order new ambulances so that they can make money for their businessmen so NDC will have to come back and clear their mess,” Mr Jakpa told the Court.

“And true to it, he refused to implement these two documents and they went ahead and ordered the same Mercedes Benz Van 311, the same brand, the same model and got a third-party company because Mercedes as a manufacturer does not produce ambulances, they only produce vans.

“A third-party company which converts vans of any manufacturer in the world into ambulances like Big Sea also converted these Mercedes Benz vans into ambulances, shipped them to Ghana,” he stated.

Dr Ato Forson, the current minority leader in parliament, and businessman Richard Jakpa have been accused of willfully causing financial loss to the republic to the tune of 2.37 million euros through the purchase of ambulances.

They have pleaded not guilty and are standing trial.

When asked if any claim by “the prosecution that the ambulances are not fit for purpose,” he said that claims would be “very mischievous,” he answered in the affirmative.

“Very mischievous and it was deliberately orchestrated allegation to sabotage the ambulance project since it originated from the previous government and I say this because, on an assumption of governance by the current government in 2017, I personally went to the office of the Minister of Health, Hon. Agyemang Manu and implored him to take steps to clear the accessories because all the issues surrounding the ambulances implementation problems had been resolved by his predecessor, Hon. Alex Segbefia before He, Hon. Agyemang Manu took office and I showed him the letter and that is Exhibit 18 for A3,” the businessman explained.

He added that, “I showed Exhibit 18 for A3 to Hon. Agyemang Manu and with the permission of the court, I want to read it. (A3 reads to the court).”

“This letter is the last letter that solved all the problems that we had in this ambulance project right from 2012 up to 14th December 2016 before this current government took over power. The current government was to implement this letter and to also implement the addendum which solved all the problems of the ambulance project and also the court’s order instructing the government to establish the rest of the LC (Letter of Credit) for the 170 ambulances in the name of Jakpa@Business Limited and not in the name of Big Sea.

“I showed this letter to the Minister of Health, Hon. Agyemang Manu, and made it clear to him that there was no issue with this ambulance handed over by the previous government to the new government and that the previous government had taken steps to rectify and solve all the implementation hiccups that was occasioned by the Minister of Health, Hon. Sherry Areetey and the Minister of Finance, Hon. Seth Terkper and all that was left was for this new government to implement these two documents and the allegations they were levelling on all their radio stations was m u c h ado about nothing and all that was left for the Minister of Health, Hon. Agyemang Manu to proceed and implement the letter Exhibit 18 for A3 and the addendum to the main contract.

“The Minister of Health, Hon. Agyemang Manu (PW3) told me in my face that he has seen the letter (Exhibit 18 for A3) in the Ministry and that I must understand that this is a new government and the ambulance case had been taken out of his hands and it is now being handled by his party’s headquarters and that they are also going to get their businessmen to order new ambulances so that they can make money for their businessmen so NDC will have to come back and clear their mess.

“And true to it, he refused to implement these two documents and they went ahead and ordered the same Mercedes Benz  Van 311, the same brand, the same model, and got a third-party company because Mercedes as a manufacturer does not produce ambulances, they only produce vans.

“A third-party company which converts vans of any manufacturer in the world into ambulances like Big Sea also converted these Mercedes Benz vans into ambulances and shipped them to Ghana.

“They stayed in Ghana for one whole year parked awaiting for their accessories to also be shipped which was eventually shipped and fixed them in Ghana and distributed them which are now roaming on our streets which is no different from the ambulances that Big Sea had shipped and the accessories also shipped since 2016 and abandoned at the Port for almost 8 years so the claim can be made that Big Sea ambulances are empty trotro,” the accused told the Court.

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