Press Conference Adressed By The Movement For Better Ghana

Press Conference Adressed By The Movement For Better Ghana In KumasI ON THURSDAY 12 JANUARY 2012 ON THE DEATH TRAP CREATED BY THE NPP GOVERNMENT UNDER THE WATCH AND SUPERVISION OF DR NSIAH ASARE THEN C.E.O AT KATH AND DR. KWAKU AFRIYIE THEN MINISTER OF HEALTH.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I would like to on behalf of my colleagues welcome you to this press conference. We are particularly gratified by your presence here especially when this conference has had to be called at such a short notice.

We are also happy at the turn out for today’s event, so to all of you who have gathered here We the Members of the Movement For Better Ghana will for ever see you as partners in our quest to see Ghana become better.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we have called you today to bring to light certain facts that have been hidden from all of us as far the establishment and function of the Accident and Emergency unit of KATH is concerned.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, on the 30th of June 2005, the ministry of health and the Ministry of finance under the watch of H.E. J A Kuffuor and his NPP government signed a contract with Gertech GMBH of the republic of Germany for the design, construction and supply of equipment for a new accident and emergency center, a new 200 body mortuary and the refurbishment and upgrading of the out- patient department at KATH.

It is interesting to note that as of now this edifice that is supposed to be a life saving facility has rather been turned into a slaughter house by the erstwhile NPP administration under the watch of DR. Nsiah Asare, we say this because a lot of the equipment that were brought in under the contract were non functional, a lot did not come at all, a lot has not been installed even as we speak there is a life support machine (Dialysis) at the ICU that is not and has not been working since the commissioning of the center.

We have called you here today so that you can lead us to ask some pertinent questions that are begging for answers.

1. We do not understand why transportation of equipments to the center from Germany to Ghana on the High seas cost much less than transportation of the same equipment from the Tema port to Kumasi. Freight charges from Germany to Ghana cost 1,172,650,00 Euro whiles transportation to Kumasi from Tema is 2,165,050.00 Euro, it is important to note that the equipment had been insured at an amount of 439,750.00 euro from Germany to Kumasi please find attached exhibit “A”

2. We do not understand why the Ministry of health then, decided to sign a contract that places KATH and Ghana at a disadvantage in that for whatever little equipment that gets faulty, Gertech would have to come from Germany before repairs can be effected, from water closets, to water pumping machine, fluorescent tubes and bulbs including ordinary telephone receivers, then what becomes of the usefulness of Vodafone after Kuffuor had told us Ghanaians could not manage Ghana Telecom therefore there was the need to bring in the British?.

3. We want to know of the where about of an amount of 932,606.22 Euros which we are told is still being held by Gertech GMBH in an account in Germany. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we in the movement for better Ghana suspect of corruption and underhand dealings in this whole accident and emergency unit construction and function, we are therefore calling on state security apparatus particularly the CID and BNI to immediately cause the arrest, investigation, prosecution and possibly jailing of Dr Nsiah Asare and Dr Kwaku Afriyie for the many deaths that they have caused with the malfunctioning of the center. Beyond this request we the members of MBG will tomorrow 13th January 2012 file a petition with the EOCO to as a matter of urgency begin investigation into the matter to unravel the mystery surrounding how Dr. Nsiah Asare brought Gertech into Ghana and how the managed to dupe Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Ghana.

Again an audit report on the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital that was carried out in 2006 made indictment at Dr Nsiah Asare for having caused financial loss to the state from an inappropriate tenancy agreement, Please find attached exhibit “B”.

We are calling for his immediate prosecution on this subject so that he can also enjoy what other public officers who caused financial loss to the state did enjoy.

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we believe that we will take it up upon ourselves to seek justice and good health for our people, thank you for coming.

Ofori Agyeman Boadi

Secrertary General 0276762233

THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR EOCO KUMASI 13TH JANUARY, 2012 DEAR SIR, PETITION BY THE MOVEMENT FOR BETTER GHANA IN KUMASI PRESENTED TO THE EOCO’S KUMASI OFFICE ON FRIDAY 13 JANUARY 2012. SUBJECT : THE DEATH TRAP CREATED BY THE NPP GOVERNMENT UNDER THE WATCH AND SUPERVISION OF DR NSIAH ASARE THEN C.E.O AT KATH AND DR. KWAKU AFRIYIE THEN MINISTER OF HEALTH. The Movement for Better Ghana is a Kumasi based Policy advocacy group duly registered with the registrar general’s department. The group haven sighted a contract signed on the 30th of June 2005,between the ministry of health and the Ministry of finance under the watch of H.E. J A Kuffuor and his NPP government and Gertech GMBH of the Federal Republic of Germany for the design, construction and supply of equipment for a new accident and emergency center, a new 200 body mortuary and the refurbishment and upgrading of the out patient department at KATH, have come to realize that this edifice that is supposed to be a life saving facility has rather been turned into a slaughter house by the erstwhile NPP administration under the watch of DR. Nsiah Asare, we say this because a lot of the equipment that were brought in under the contract were non functional, a lot did not come at all, a lot has not been installed even as speak, as at the time of putting this piece together there is a life support machine at the ICU that is not and has not been working since the commissioning of the center. We have therefore decided to take it upon ourselves to petition your office so that you can lead us and the good people of Ghana to ask some pertinent questions that are begging for answers. We are petitioning your outfit to drag particularly Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare former CEO of KATH and Dr Kwaku Afriyie former minister of Health before your investigative panel. 1. We do not understand why transportation of equipments to the center from Germany to Ghana on the High seas cost much less than transportation of the same equipment from the Tema port to Kumasi. Freight charges from Germany to Ghana cost 1,172,650,00 Euro whiles transportation to Kumasi from Tema is 2,165,050.00 Euro, it is important to note that the equipment had been an insured at an amount of 439,750.00 euro from Germany to Kumasi please find attached exhibit “A” 2. We do not understand why the Ministry of health then, decided to sign a contract that places KATH and Ghana at a disadvantage in that for whatever little equipment that gets faulty, Gertech would have to come from Germany before repairs can be effected, from water closets to water pumping machine, fluorescent tubes and bulbs including ordinary telephone receivers, then what becomes of the usefulness of Vodafone after Kuffuor had told us Ghanaians could not manage Ghana Telecom therefore there was the need to bring in the British?. 3. We want to know the where about of an amount of 932, 606. 22 Euros which we are told is still being held by Gertech Gmbh in an account in the Republic of Germany. Again an audit report on the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital that was carried out in 2006 made indictment at Dr Nsiah Asare for having caused financial loss to the state from an inappropriate tenancy agreement.

Please find attached copies of relevant portions of the contract document which has been marked exhibit “A, B, C, D and E”. We are calling for an immediate investigation into this subject. We hope our petition will receive your earnest attention. Thank you.

For and on behalf of Movement for Better Ghana

Kwasi Ofori Agyeman Boadi General Secretary

Cc. Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene Cc. The Minister of Health Cc. The Ashanti Regional Minister Cc. Chief Executive officer KATH.