Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said the COVID-19 tests administered at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) have achieved satisfactory results so far and, thus, must be celebrated rather than attacked.
He also indicated that the government has no plans of suspending the tests at the airport, changing the company administering the tests or suspending the contract.
According to him, Health Frontiers Services Limited, which was contracted by the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) to do the tests at KIA, is providing a critical service which protects the country’s population from the importation of cases.
Mr Nkrumah made these statements in response to the Minority Caucus in Parliament’s claims against the KIA COVID-19 testing regime.
On Thursday, 1 October 2020, the Minority called for the immediate suspension of the ongoing COVID-19 testing at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
The Caucus questioned the viability of the contract awarded to the private company.
The Minority spokesman on health, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Juaboso, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, urged the government to engage the services of the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to carry out the COVID-19 tests instead of contracting a private institution whose charges are higher.
“We, in the Minority, have suggested to the government to utilise the services of Noguchi, who have spearheaded the testing of COVID-19 cases in our country since this pandemic took its course, instead of contracting a private institution whose charges are higher,” he noted.
However, he said that the government awarded the contract to Frontiers Health Care Limited because the Akufo-Addo-led government “is more interested in creating avenues for its families and friends to take advantage of the situation to exploit Ghanaians rather than considering the plight of the people.”
The Minority, therefore, demanded a “full-scale investigation into this unconscionable, corrupt and cruel self-enriching scheme so that all those behind this stinking plot can be brought to justice.”
But, Mr Nkrumah intimated that the results from PCR antigen tests conducted at KIA so far have been satisfactory and successful.
“We are very satisfied with their tests which have helped prevent 50 cases from getting into the general population as of the end of September 2020. It will be irresponsible of us to tinker with the successes being achieved so far” he said.
The Information Minister who is also the MP for Ofoase Ayirebi rubbished claims by the Minority questioning the credibility of Health Frontiers Services Limited while urging the Minority Caucus in Parliament to direct their questions appropriately.
“Their services were well procured, their standards meet global requirements and we have no qualms with them. If indeed the minority wants answers to questions, they know the appropriate place to file those questions as Parliament resumes,” he noted.