Sputnik V Vaccine Scandal: I did no wrong, some people wanted to set me up – Agyemang-Manu

The outgoing Minister for Health, Kweku Agyemang-Manu, insisted he did no wrong in purchasing Sputnik V vaccines in the heat of the COVID pandemic two years ago, describing the episode as a possible set-up.

During the height of the pandemic, the government came under a barrage of attacks following allegations that it was using middlemen to secure over a million doses of Sputnik-V vaccines at $19 instead of $10 on the international market.

The Minister of Health was subsequently dragged to parliament by the Minority, accusing him of not doing due diligence and paying for the vaccines at an inflated price.

Speaking to GHOne News' Evelyn Araba Aidoo, the health minister whom President Akufo-Addo axed in his February 14 reshuffle insists he did no wrong.

"I had done no wrong, but some people just wanted to pitch me up and put wrongdoing on me. I was doing that in good faith, collaborating, had meetings; I didn't do that transaction myself alone. Then all of a sudden, 'You didn't come to parliament in an emergency'," he told Evelyn Araba Aidoo.

"No matter how much I tried to explain, the health committee in parliament would not accept anything. At one stage, I got so down that I was even requesting that they charge me to court because I thought that my explanations would have been accepted in court rather than in front of my colleagues on the committee. Whether it was mischief or something, I wouldn't be able to tell, but that was what happened," Kweku Agyemang-Manu added.

The Dormaa Central MP insists that despite the episode, he did his best for the country.

"Subsequently, even when that was dying down, another group in the chamber was trying to cite me for perjury, and they were asking for a censure motion on me.

"These were times that I felt that I had done so well; I was working so hard to keep us alive even during a massive pandemic on the globe. But despite all that, I managed to continue to do what I was doing to save the lives in Ghana.

"I don't know what is going to happen, but that is what it is. I will still insist and continue to say I did no wrong. I never can be cited for any wrongdoing," he insisted.

The outgoing minister has also described the Auditor-General report on the COVID-19 expenditure as incomplete work, insisting that he performed brilliantly during the pandemic.

Kweku Agyemang-Manu, who served as Health Minister for the past seven years, is set to be replaced by his former deputy during the COVID pandemic and NHIA CEO Bernard Okoe-Boye.