Ambulance Spare Parts: We haven't paid a dollar to the company - Okoe-Boye replies Ablakwa

Bernard Okoe-Boye, the Minister of Health has provided further clarification on the press statement issued by his outfit, stating that the $10million indicated in the release is yet to be paid to Service Ghana Auto Limited for their provision of spare parts and maintenance of a fleet of ambulances owned by the state.

Addressing the press on Thursday, August 1, 2024 Okoe-Boye explained that information available to him from a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana indicates that despite the issuance of a Letter of Credit, no payment has been made.

He claims that the deputy governor explained to him that the BoG was waiting for the company to deliver on their agreement before paying the money into its account.

“I spoke to one of the Deputy Governors of the Bank of Ghana who told me that not even a dollar has been given to the service provider. She said that it is actually a letter of credit and that it is when the provider has actually supplied the sparts to certain tunes and execute the work that they are empowered to pay for the work done. So the governor made me understand that they have it with but haven’t paid.

“From the controller to the BoG, all these trails that our state actors should be willing to give information. I deliberately didn’t allow my PR team to put this in the earlier release because I believed that the BoG if called upon should be able to provide this information,” he said.

His clarification comes at a time when the company Service Ghana Auto Limited had issued a response to the claims against it by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu.

SGAGL, in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, refuted claims by the North Tongu legislator that there was some illegality in the payment of some $34.9 million to it by the government for the purchase and fitting of spare parts on some 307 government ambulances.

The company refuted the assertions by the MP that it was offered the contract by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo without competitive tendering – on a sole sourcing basis.

It explained that it was part of 16 companies who bid for the contract for the service in 2018 and was chosen to be part of a consortium of 7 companies that got the contract because they provided the required services at a relatively low price.

"SGAGL is an SPV of a consortium of seven companies that participated in a competitive procurement process, not sole-sourced, and was adjudged on merit to procure and provide after-sales service and maintenance for 307 Mercedes Benz Sprinter ambulances for the National Ambulance Service (NAS)."

“A total of 16 companies participated, including the seven companies that eventually formed the Consortium during the pre-tender workshop round. The companies that formed the consortium included Luxury World Auto Group Limited, Elok Consult, RDC Company Limited, Beft Engineering Works Limited, Prestige Era Company Limited, Bluemix Company Limited, and Quality Supply and Builders Company Limited," the statement read.

The Ministry of Health in an earlier statement confirmed to paying $10million fo the company for the maintenance of the ambulances.

“The Ministry of Health would like to act only upon the request of the Health Ministry after the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives was dissolved to clarify that the Service Provider, Ghana Auto Group Limited, has not been paid an amount of $34.9 million as widely reported.”

“The Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring a sustainable maintenance regime for all fleets procured for the National Ambulance Service to provide reliable, efficient, and safe emergency medical services,” a statement issued by the Ministry read in part.