After enduring a prolonged bureaucratic stalemate at the Tema Port, the government has finally managed to clear all medical supplies that had been stuck for over a year.
The persistent delays surrounding the clearance of these crucial medical provisions, generously donated by the Global Fund, had sparked widespread concerns among stakeholders and parliamentary members. Acknowledging the mounting pressure, the government recently took decisive steps to address the long-standing issue.
Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, had previously pledged that the supplies would be processed and freed from port confinement within a two-week timeframe, reassuring both domestic and international partners of an imminent resolution.
Confirming by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the health sector, in an interview with Citi News, Ernest Amoabeng, the acting chairman of the Ghana Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund, disclosed that the distribution of the medical supplies to various regions across the country had commenced.
He further highlighted that while the warehouse was receiving shipments in multiple installments, the Global Fund expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved thus far.
Amoabeng stated, “I can confirm to you that the clearing of the containers is still ongoing… last week we visited the warehouse, and we were informed that all the containers have been successfully cleared by the port authorities.”
He continued, “As of Monday this week, we received confirmation that the necessary approvals for the release of the remaining outstanding batch of 64 containers have been granted by the GRA.
Hence, all the containers have now been officially released by the government and transported to the designated warehouse for further processing.”
By Vincent Kubi