RE-Walter Reed Hospital (US) Medical Equipment Donated To Korle-Bu Has Been Diverted By Ghana Embassy Staff In Washington Dc
The attention of the Ghana Embassy in Washington D.C., has been drawn to an article on Modernghana website alleging that the medical equipment donated by Walter Reed Military Hospital to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, has been diverted by Embassy staff.
The article said, (sic) in 2011, the Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington D.C. which closed down its premises in the Washington D.C. decided to donate their medical equipment to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana. Part of this medical equipment was intended to complete the two North-American-Standard neurosurgery operating rooms that were expected to be opened at KTH in Accra.
The article went further to say that the whole equipment which was valued at 20 million US dollars was being donated to Ghana and Liberia and needed a bio-medical engineer to recalibrate the equipment before shipment. The Coca-Cola Company, the article stated, was assisting in the shipment of the equipment and the recalibrations of the equipment. The Coca Cola Company could not foot all the bills, because of the huge costs of shipment and the calibrations of the donated-medical equipment.
Hence, the Ghana government was contacted to foot part of the bills in the shipment and the calibrations; through the Ghana Embassy in Washington D.C, the article said.
It said after sometime the Ghana Embassy said they were not hearing from the Ghana government, so the Minister for Trade decided to put the equipment in the storage (8 containers, two storage facilities in Springfield, Virginia and Atlanta) and use them to set up his own medical centre in Ghana. Part of the equipment has been shipped already and the question is, if the consignee in Ghana is not Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, who is the Private consignee then? This Minister at the Ghana Embassy, therefore, set-up a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) with an organization here in US and Ghana and began to ship these medical equipment in parts and in bits to the NGO that the Minister had established back home in Ghana. The Minister of Trade is intended to set up a private owned hospitals and clinics in Ghana.
The Embassy finds the storey to be misleading and mischievous since it is filled with lies, fabrication and misinformation. At no point did the authors of the article contact the Embassy for its version of the story. The truth of the matter is that nobody at the Ghana Embassy in Washington D.C. has diverted the medical equipment donated by the Walter Reed Military Hospital to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana.
The equipment, since it was donated in 2011, has been in storage and the Embassy continues to pay rent from its scarce resources. There have been many occasions when the owners of the storage facility had threatened to auction the equipment when the Embassy had fallen behind in the payment of rent.
There was no time, since the equipment was donated, that the Coca-Cola Company has gotten involved in the effort to ship the equipment to Ghana.
Another misinformation the Embassy would like to correct is the value of the equipment, which the article quoted to be 20 million dollars. The actual value of the equipment as per the donors, is 10.6 million dollars.
The Embassy has been in constant touch with the appropriate authorities in Accra to get the equipment shipped and at no time has anyone in the Embassy formed an NGO to help ship the equipment for themselves or any other person. It must also be noted that neither the Embassy nor anyone can ship the equipment without meeting the conditions set by the U.S. authorities who donated the equipment, or without their knowledge.
Again, the article on the Modernghana website has come as a surprise to the Embassy especially, when it continues to incur loses as long as the equipment remains in the U.S.
Information Section
Ghana Embassy Washington DC
