Former Health Minister Agyemang-Manu to be charged over Sputnik V contract saga — Kwakye Ofosu

Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu has revealed that former Minister for Health Kwaku Agyemang Manu will soon face criminal charges over the controversial procurement of Sputnik V vaccines and related dealings with Frontiers Healthcare Services.

According to him, preparations for the prosecution are already far advanced as authorities move to pursue legal action over decisions taken during Ghana’s response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

“The former Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu will be charged in the coming weeks over the Sputnik V vaccine purchase and Frontiers Healthcare Services,” Kwakye Ofosu said during an appearance on TV3 on Saturday, March 14, noting that prosecutors are currently preparing the formal charges.

The controversy dates back to 2021 when Ghana sought additional vaccine supplies during the global scramble for COVID 19 vaccines. Although the country had begun administering doses obtained through the COVAX facility and bilateral arrangements, government officials moved to secure more vaccines to accelerate the national immunisation campaign.

As part of that effort, the then Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, entered into an agreement involving a United Arab Emirates intermediary, Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, together with a Ghanaian company, S.L. Global, to supply millions of doses of the Russian developed Sputnik V vaccine.

The deal quickly attracted intense criticism after it emerged that Ghana had agreed to purchase the vaccines through the intermediary at about $19 per dose, nearly double the estimated $10 price at which the manufacturer was reportedly offering the vaccines.

An ad hoc committee of the Parliament of Ghana later found that the agreements had been executed without the required parliamentary approval and without authorisation from the Public Procurement Authority.

The committee further disclosed that about $2.85 million, equivalent to more than GH¢16 million, had already been paid under the arrangement even though the vaccines were never delivered.

Amid growing public pressure and parliamentary scrutiny, the government cancelled the deal in July 2021, effectively ending the disputed procurement process.

Separate concerns also emerged regarding the government’s contract with Frontiers Healthcare Services to conduct mandatory COVID 19 testing for arriving passengers at the Kotoka International Airport. Investigations indicated that while Ghana earned roughly $6.4 million from the arrangement, the private operator received about $80.6 million from the testing services.