Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has dispelled suggestions that the Health Minister can be prosecuted for his handling of the Sputnik V vaccine purchase.
The Minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, has come under fire for breaching a host of procurement laws in the purchase of the vaccines.
Also, although the vaccine is selling at $10 per dose on the market, the Minister signed a contract to get it for Ghana for $19 per dose.
A bi-partisan parliamentary committee that investigated the deal found, among other things, that the procurement and supply of the Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccines between the government and the private office of Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum constituted an international agreement and required Parliamentary approval as required by Article 181(5) of the 1992 Constitution.Â
There have been calls on the President to dismiss him and prosecute him.
But after securing a refund of the money from the middleman, his supporters want an end to the calls for him to be sacked or prosecuted.
“We can only prosecute the Health Minister if there is a financial loss to the state,†Afenyo-Markin said on Newsfile on Saturday. Â
He said the Minister can not be blamed for the Sheikh’s ability to deliver only 20,000 out of the 300,000 doses request put in.