The government has begun mobilising funds to settle outstanding payments owed to Fly Zipline Ghana Limited, as it works to restore and sustain the drone-based delivery of emergency medical supplies across the country.
The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, disclosed this in Parliament on Wednesday while responding to questions from Members of Parliament on the operations of Zipline and the status of the Agenda 111 Psychiatric Hospital project at Onwe in the Ejisu Municipality.
Mr. Akandoh admitted that the Ministry of Health owed Zipline as of March 2026, but said some payments had already been made.
“Though some payments have been made to Zipline lately, the Ministry has taken steps to mobilise the necessary funds to pay the outstanding money,” he told the House.
The Minister explained that the Ministry had held several meetings with Zipline to find an amicable way forward following operational challenges between the two parties.
Despite those engagements, he said Zipline unilaterally decommissioned three of its distribution centres in October 2025, reducing its operational hubs from six to three.
The remaining operational centres are located at Omenako/Suhum in the Eastern Region, Mpenya/Mampong in the Ashanti Region, and Vobsi/Walewale in the North East Region.
Mr. Akandoh said discussions with the company were continuing to ensure that its services are directed at addressing critical gaps in the supply of emergency medicines, particularly in hard-to-reach communities and areas that become geographically isolated during natural disasters.
He traced the partnership between the government and Zipline to December 11, 2018, when the Ministry of Health signed a four-year service agreement with Fly Zipline Ghana Limited for the emergency delivery of blood and other health products from four distribution centres serving selected public health facilities.
According to him, the agreement was amended on December 15, 2020, extending the service period from four years to eight years while expanding the planned network from four to eight distribution centres. The revised agreement is expected to expire in September 2027.
Until recently, Zipline had been operating six distribution centres located at Omenako/Suhum, Mpenya/Mampong, Vobsi/Walewale, Sefwi Wiawso in the Western North Region, Anum/Boso in the Eastern Region and Kete Krachi in the Oti Region.
Responding to a separate question on the Agenda 111 Psychiatric Hospital project at Onwe in the Ejisu Municipality, the Health Minister said the facility remains part of the government’s healthcare infrastructure programme but has not been selected for the first phase of implementation.
He explained that stakeholder consultations on the Agenda 111 programme had been completed and a Cabinet memorandum outlining the strategic implementation plan had been submitted.
Following the consultations, he said the government adopted a phased approach to completing the projects, taking into account their level of completion, the availability of funding and the healthcare needs of their respective catchment areas.
Mr. Akandoh said the strategy was intended to ensure the efficient use of limited resources by prioritising projects that could be completed and operationalised quickly.
He noted that 35 Agenda 111 projects had been selected for implementation under the first phase.
The Onwe Psychiatric Hospital project, he said, is approximately 33.77 percent complete. Although it was not among the first 35 prioritised projects, he assured Parliament that it remains eligible for consideration in subsequent phases of the programme as funding becomes available.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House