NDC will push for probe into $150 coronavirus testing contract – Ablakwa

The Minority caucus in parliament will continue to demand a formal probe into the “opaque and illegal” contract relating to coronavirus testing at the airport.

This is according to North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who last week raised the issue of a $150 testing fee at the Kotoka International Airport, KIA. The airport is Ghana’s sole entry point with all land and sea borders closed.

“Let me reaffirm the resolve of the NDC caucus in Parliament as contained in my Friday statement on the floor that we demand formal investigations into the entire opaque and illegal US$150 Frontiers Healthcare Services saga. We shall not relent,” Ablakwa wrote in a Facebook post.

The post was in reaction to the reduction of coronavirus fees at the airports for citizens and other ECOWAS nationals. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo – current Chairman of ECOWAS – announced in his 23rd address that the previous $150 charge had been slashed to $50.

The regional bloc during the most recent summit of heads of state, agreed to cap testing fees. But even that was a source of worry for the Ablakwa.

The minority caucus had in October 2020 demanded the suspension of a contract with Frontiers Healthcare Solution Services Limited. The NDC MPs argued that, the fact that the company was incorporated just days before the reopening of the airport raised eyebrows.