The NDC’s National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has explained
why the minority group on Parliament’s Appointments Committee that is vetting
nominees of the president for ministerial positions, are pushing to understand
the controversies surrounding the company responsible for testing of
coronavirus at the KIA.
According to
him, in the interest of the general populace, and on the back of the $150
charge for tests conducted at the Airport, one that is among the highest in the
world, the NDC is taking advantage of the vetting process to get clarity on the
many questions surrounding the matter.
Describing the
process as ‘shady, opaque, illegal and a clear case of
profiteering’, Sammy Gyamfi said that the uncertainty surrounding
even who engaged Frontier Healthcare – the company in charge of testing for
coronavirus at the Kotoka International Airport, gives it reason to use all
available means to get to the root of all the controversies.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on
Saturday, February 13, 2021, Sammy Gyamfi said the vetting process
presents them with the perfect opportunity to get all the clarity they need on
the matter.
So far, there has not been any
clear indication on who engaged Frontier Healthcare and all the other matters
on the timing of their registration, their credibility and the
non-Ghanaian-ness of the management of the company.
Among other justifications
presented on the program, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Sammy
Gyamfi explained that whoever supervised this flouted three processes.
First, he stated, was the
flouting of the Public Procurement Law, stressing that the excuse that people
were dying, for which reason they could not follow the required procedure to
satisfy this requirement, is untenable.
Secondly, he stated the Health Institutions and Facilities
Act (HeFRA), which he explained, is mandated to give license before any
facility within the sector is established.
Finally, he mentioned the Fees
and Charges Act of 2018 which requires that no entity can impose any levy on
the public without an approved LI by the Parliament.
All these, Sammy Gyamfi insisted, makes it unacceptable that such an
issue should be unquestioned, particularly too when it directly affects the
health of Ghanaians, during a pandemic of such magnitude.
“The purpose is simple. We are
talking about something that has become an essential tool for risk minimization
of the virus; an essential tool for slowing down the spread of the virus. Here,
we are talking about testing. And so, the affordability of that tool is very
important because now, it’s become an essential service. And that is why in
some countries, these tests are done for people for free.
“We in the NDC, have been very
concerned about the cu cost of $150 per antigen test being done by a company known
as Frontline Healthcare Services at the Kotoka International Airport. Because,
our investigations have revealed that the deal and the circumstances under
which that company was engaged, is shady, opaque, illegal, and that the terms
of the transaction, the amount being charged for the antigen test, is a rip
off. We think that what is happening is a clear case of profiteering and should
not be countenanced by the people of this country.
“For some of the countries we
compare with, some of them do PCR test. And there is a difference between a PCR
test and an antigen test. The PCR test is the golden standard and more
expensive. And so, when you look at countries like Sierra Leone, they are doing
the PCR test at $80, Senegal is doing PCR at $75, Rwanda is doing PCR test at
$65, Djibouti is doing PCR test at $28, Germany $70, Turkey $16. So, why should
Ghana be doing an inferior test – the antigen test, in this time, at $150?” he
explained.
Sammy Gyamfi was
speaking on JoyNews’ Saturday, February 13, 2021, edition of Newsfile and was
monitored by GhanaWeb.
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