1 week ago
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The Majority Leader successful Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has disclosed that helium has personally called for the cancellation of the declaration betwixt the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Zipline Ghana for the transportation of indispensable healthcare products successful distant wellness facilities utilizing drones.
According to him, helium was against the Zipline declaration since the Ghana Health Service (GHS) could not proceed to walk GH¢170 cardinal annually for the institution to beryllium sending humor and different products to wellness facilities utilizing drones.
In his view, the GHS should person developed its ain in-house capableness to present the humor done its ain drones to chopped outgo enormously.
“The Ministry of Health should person bought its ain drones by now; you cannot proceed spending that benignant of wealth that you are paying a work provider, arsenic it is simply a full discarded of money,” helium said.
Minority Leader’s concern
Speaking connected the level of Parliament connected Friday [Nov 28, 2025], Mr Ayariga insisted that the Ministry of Health should person bought its ain drones aft each those years the declaration had existed.
“So please, that is my idiosyncratic presumption of the matter,” helium said, erstwhile helium responded to a interest raised by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin implicit the cancellation of the Zipline contract.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had said the authorities had conscionable this week cancelled the Zipline contract.
He said Zipline Ghana announced the shutdown of 3 of its centres conscionable this week due to the fact that of implicit GH¢170million outstanding claims.
“Mr Speaker, we cognize the captious relation Zipline has been playing, particularly successful delivering medicine to agrarian wellness care,” helium said.
He, therefore, said it was important that the Minister of Health addresses the contented particularly regarding steps being taken to woody with it “because it is not those of america successful the cities that volition endure from this shutdown.”
“It is those successful the agrarian areas who different would request exigency aesculapian attraction and if determination is blood, determination is the request for them to get humor transfusion arsenic rapidly arsenic possible,” helium said.
Drain connected nationalist resources
Responding, the Majority Leader said adjacent successful his statement connected the 2026 fund statement, helium indicated intelligibly that helium was against the Zipline contract.
He recalled that the Zipline declaration was signed determination successful 2021, but specified a declaration had been a drain connected nationalist resources.
“Can you ideate each twelvemonth we are spending GH¢170 cardinal truthful that they volition spell and driblet humor successful immoderate colony and past travel back?"
“Meanwhile, determination is simply a roadworthy web starring to astir each town, each assemblage successful this country, and determination are lone a fewer locations that you would accidental the roads are not accessible,” Mr Ayariga said.
The Bawku Central MP said the wealth expended could person utilized to tar the roads to each those locations wherever Zipline delivered medicines, and the GHS could person bought its ain drones and done its ain deliveries anytime it needed to bash a delivery.
Drones aren’t expensive
Asking however overmuch the outgo of a drone was, the Leader said immoderate drones were arsenic inexpensive arsenic $4,000 and $5,000, with the astir costly drones not costing beyond $10,000 and $20,000.
“By present we would person had drones for each territory successful this state managed by the Ghana Health Service.
“Let america spell and bash a full calculation of however overmuch wealth we person wasted connected this Zipline contract,” helium said.
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