I am 'not sure' if ambulances are insured - Health Minister-designate

Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Health Minister-designate, has told Parliament's Appointments Committee that he isn't sure if the over 300 ambulances procured for districts across the country have been assured yet.

In January 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo commissioned and distributed 307 ambulances to help augment operations of the National Ambulance Service (NAS).

The new ambulances were distributed to all 275 constituencies in Ghana in fulfilment of the government’s 2016 election campaign to help improve emergency healthcare delivery.

But, responding to a question from Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka during his vetting, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said that although he had instructed for all the ambulances to be insured, he was not sure if that had been done yet.

Muntaka: “Mr. Chairman, I want to find out from the honourable nominee that the ambulances that we procured; over 300 of them, whether they are insured?”

Agyeman-Manu: “This is a difficult question but I’ll have to check on them. There were instructions for insurance to be done but I’ll have to check on it.”

Muntaka: “Mr. Minister, so they’ve been in the system for approximately almost 10 months or more and you are not sure whether they are insured and they are running on our streets.”

Agyeman-Manu: “That is the case.”

Kwaku Agyeman-Manu was grilled for five hours at the Committee and now awaits confirmation or not from them.