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Ernest Amoabeng Oteng, the Acting Chairman of the Global Fund in Ghana, has urged the Ministry of Health to provide more information about the contents of more than 100 containers that are locked up at the Tema Port. The Ministry asserts that the containers are solely filled with mosquito nets.
According to Mr. Oteng, the $45 million worth of 450 containers also contain vital medical supplies such antiretroviral medications, malaria medication, tuberculosis treatment, renal medications, and mosquito nets.
Mr. Oteng underlined that Ministry representatives ought to exercise caution while making remarks against foreign organizations.
He clarified that because the Global Fund is an entity supported by donors, legislators’ actions raise questions and may endanger Ghana’s eligibility for future funding from the Fund.
In an interview with Accra-based Neat FM, Mr. Oteng revealed that the Fund’s administration is dissatisfied with Ghana’s present state of affairs with relation to the port clearance of these medical goods.
He reported that fund managers met with the health minister in Geneva and voiced their extreme dissatisfaction with the deadlock.
He emphasized that records demonstrate that the containers at the port include limited medical items, such as kidney and tuberculosis treatment materials.
Because the port has raised import duties, these necessary medications are still locked up.
The administration has gradually cleared these containers since they arrived last year.
After the public protested over the lengthy clearance process in April, the government cleared 14 of the 120 containers that remained to be cleared.
Mr. Oteng emphasized that nothing comparable has ever happened in Ghana’s experience with aid from the Global Fund since 2002.
He blamed the delays on increases in import duties, which some officials were pressuring the Fund to cover.
The Fund, however, insists that since it is a charitable organization, the recipient nation should pay for any import fees.
Approximately GHS 7 million is still owed for third-party costs, including as network fees and demurrage, in order for the goods to be properly cleared, even after the government waived the import duties.
By bringing up these concerns, Mr. Oteng hoped to highlight the gravity of the situation and the need for the Ministry of Health to take prompt, responsible action.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
