Former Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu is expected to face criminal prosecution in the coming weeks over the controversial procurement of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines and related dealings with Frontiers Healthcare Services Limited.
Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu says preparations for legal action are at an advanced stage, signalling what could become one of the most significant accountability cases stemming from Ghana’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Points programme on Saturday, March 14, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu indicated that prosecutors were finalising preparations to file formal charges against the former minister.
“The former Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang Manu will be charged in the coming weeks over the Sputnik V vaccine purchase and Frontiers Healthcare Services,” he stated.
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The development comes amid growing public scrutiny following the release of the 2024 report by the Ghana Audit Service, which highlighted billions of cedis in disputed liabilities, irregular payments and suspected fictitious claims across several government programmes.
The planned prosecution relates to Ghana’s attempt in 2021 to secure doses of the Sputnik V vaccine during the height of the global scramble for COVID-19 vaccines.
At the time, Ghana had already begun deploying vaccines secured through the COVAX facility and bilateral arrangements, but authorities sought additional doses to accelerate the country’s immunisation campaign.
Mr. Agyemang Manu reportedly entered into an agreement with a United Arab Emirates intermediary, Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, and Ghanaian firm S.L. Global to supply millions of doses of the vaccine.
The deal later sparked widespread controversy after it emerged that Ghana had agreed to purchase the vaccines through a middleman at about $19 per dose, almost double the estimated $10 price offered by the manufacturer.
A parliamentary ad hoc committee subsequently determined that the agreements had been signed without the required parliamentary approval and without clearance from the Public Procurement Authority.
The committee also revealed that about $2.85 million (over GH¢16 million) had already been paid as part of the transaction for vaccines that were never delivered.
Following intense public and parliamentary pressure, the government terminated the agreement in July 2021.
Another issue under scrutiny involves the contract awarded to Frontiers Healthcare Services Limited to conduct COVID-19 testing at Kotoka International Airport.
Investigations indicated that while Ghana received about US$6.4 million, the private contractor earned roughly US$80.6 million from the airport testing operation.
A report by The Fourth Estate revealed that the contract between Ghana Airports Company Limited and Frontiers was signed on September 1, 2020, the same day the company began mandatory testing of arriving passengers.
The report further suggested that Frontiers only obtained a licence to operate two months after beginning services, potentially breaching provisions of the Health Facilities Regulatory Act 2011 (Act 829).
In addition, the Public Procurement Authority reportedly did not approve the contract award, raising further questions about compliance with procurement regulations.
Critics had argued that Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana’s leading biomedical research institution, was better positioned to conduct the testing.
The impending prosecution is expected to renew national debate over transparency and accountability in the management of pandemic-related contracts and emergency procurement decisions.
Legal proceedings, if initiated, would mark one of the most prominent efforts by authorities to pursue accountability for decisions taken during the COVID-19 crisis.
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