In 2019, the government purchased 307 ambulances, and in early 2024, a controversial deal related to those ambulances has surfaced.
On February 9, 2024, former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta approved a $34.9 million contract with Service Ghana Auto Group Limited for spare parts procurement.
However, in a Facebook post on July 22, 2024, the North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleged that Ofori-Atta approved the release of $10 million (GHS120,711,000.00) to the company on February 9, 2024, with the payment being processed and received on February 23, 2024.
“On the same 9th February, 2024, the busy Finance Minister instructed the Controller and Accountant-General to release US$10million, equivalent to GHS120,711,000.00,” Ablakwa said.
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Ablakwa accused Ofori-Atta of shortchanging the state in this transaction. According to him, the cost per ambulance amounts to $113,695.45, which he claimed is an excessively high price for the transaction.
“Instructively, checks from many Mercedes Benz ambulance dealers across the world show that US$113,695,456.00 is far more than the value of a considerable number of modern fully equipped new ambulances,” he added.
He further noted that the cost of spare parts exceeds the price of brand-new, fully equipped Mercedes Benz ambulances.
He also questioned the logic behind spending such a huge amount on spare parts when the same funds could be used to purchase entirely new ambulances.
Read below the full statement
THE US$34.9 MILLION (GHS538 MILLION) AMBULANCE SCANDAL AND HOW SERVICE GHANA AUTO GROUP LIMITED HAS MADE A COOL GHS653MILLION THROUGH INFLATED INVOICES
Unimpeachable intercepted documents from Ghana’s Ministry of Finance reveal yet another scandal of ginormous proportions.… pic.twitter.com/QX8iebUr1b
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) July 22, 2024
