Kwaku Agyeman-Manu
An organisation called Data and Advocacy Consult Ghana has said the Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu and his team has been able to manage the COVID-19 situation in the country appreciably and must not be unnecessarily chastised.
They said the recent brouhaha surrounding the procurement of Sputnik V Vaccines from Russia, which has become a subject of parliamentary probe, has shown the minister in the performance of his duties has been frank with the public and must be commended rather than condemned.
A statement signed by Felix Asirifi, Randolph Osei Buabeng and Samuel E. Adjei-Mante Foxy, who are members advocacy group said, “We do know that there have been some issues regarding procurement of vaccines for the country, but on the balance can we say the government, or the ministry or the minister has been bad in managing the situation in its totality?
They queried further that “Can we conclude the Hon. Minister has been bad at his job? Are we measuring his performance by one isolated incident? Are we saying that his choice of saving lives rather than following the due process in the heat of the pandemic was a bad choice?”
The statement said that “indeed, the minister has been honest in his submission to the committee in acknowledging that there were some issues as regards the procurement of the vaccine, would we rather as a country prefer that the minister shift the blame or found other means of hiding this, or we will rather prefer his honesty with the issues surrounding the purchase of the vaccine? Our answer to this question should reflect the kind of public servants we seek to train.”
They said that since the pandemic hit the world, “it has been acknowledged nationally that Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health and his team have succeeded in initiating well thought out strategic measures to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.”
“As we speak, Ghana has been recognised globally as one of the countries that has managed the pandemic well. Our death toll as at yesterday stood at 823, comparatively one of the lowest in the world. These earned us the privilege of being among the few countries in the world that avoided a disaster based on tact scientific measures by the COVID-19 management team,” the group indicated.
Whilst commending the President for selecting the minister, who is the MP for Dormaa Central in the Bono Region, to supervise the health needs of the country, the group said “the Hon. Minister has shown leadership which has benefitted us immensely,” adding “indeed he was built for this challenge.”
They urged the minister to remain focused and continue to lead the effort to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe that the minister has been forthright with us as a country and has shown he is also human and could make mistakes. We are not by this statement in anyway stating that public officials should be encouraged to hide behind any excuses to expend public funds without due diligence. However, we will support any public official who is honest in his duty to the mandate given him,” the group added.