Former Health Minister Alex Segbefia disputes Bawumia

Former Minister of Health Alexander Segbefia has expressed worry about the frequent comparison by members of the government, and more recently Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, between contracts signed in the previous government and cost.

According to him, the manner of the comparison where details are not considered is quite unfortunate.

Mr Segbefia, who is a former Deputy Chief of Staff, was speaking on TV3’s News 360 on Monday in reaction to Dr Bawumia’s assertion at a conference earlier in the day that a district hospital in Ghana cost $25 million, which is six times more than real value, under the previous government.

At the conference, Dr Bawumia said some projects in Ghana cost less elsewhere, like in India, in effect calling for transparency in the award of contracts.

‘Serial callers’

But Mr Segbefia said what goes into the hospitals is what matters and not the contract costs, on face value.

He said some facilities will come with bungalows for nurses as well as access roads.

“So to make comparisons without looking at the actual contracts is not the way to go.

“This type of comparison should have been left to the serial callers,” he charged.

The former Minister of Health explained that even most of the contracts go through thorough assessment by state institutions before finally being approved and so value-for-money checks are done.

“It is scrutinised by all parties including people who come from within the different political realm.”

He said Parliament, for instance, must be subjected to criticism, then, if contracts do not pass value-for-money audits since Members conduct thorough checks before approving them.

Mr Segbefia called for caution on the part of the critics as he claimed some of their criticism may affect the country’s reputation.

He cited how one of the health facilities questioned, Dodowa Hospital, has been declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the best on the continent.

He said this government is only fond of such propaganda just like it did, to no avail, in the cases of the Ameri and the Kasoa Interchange contracts.