Minister of Health, Bernard Okoe-Boye clarified a recent press statement, stating that the $10 million mentioned is yet to be paid to Service Ghana Auto Limited for spare parts and maintenance of state-owned ambulances.

Speaking on Thursday, August 1, 2024, Okoe-Boye cited information from a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, confirming that no payment has been made despite the issuance of a Letter of Credit.

The Deputy Governor indicated that payment would only occur once the company fulfills its agreement.

“I spoke to one of the Deputy Governors of the Bank of Ghana who told me that not even a dollar has been given to the service provider. She said that it is actually a letter of credit and that it is when the provider has actually supplied the parts to certain tunes and execute the work that they are empowered to pay for the work done. So the governor made me understand that they have it with but haven’t paid.

“From the controller to the BoG, all these trails that our state actors should be willing to give information. I deliberately didn’t allow my PR team to put this in the earlier release because I believed that the BoG if called upon should be able to provide this information,” he said.

His clarification comes as Service Ghana Auto Limited responded to claims by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu.

In a statement seen by GhanaWeb, SGAGL refuted Ablakwa's allegations of illegality in the $34.9 million payment for the purchase and fitting of spare parts on 307 government ambulances.

The company denied the MP's assertion that the contract was awarded by Akufo-Addo without competitive tendering, explaining that it was one of 16 companies that bid for the contract in 2018.

SGAGL was selected as part of a consortium of seven companies due to their ability to provide the required services at a relatively low price.

"SGAGL is an SPV of a consortium of seven companies that participated in a competitive procurement process, not sole-sourced, and was adjudged on merit to procure and provide after-sales service and maintenance for 307 Mercedes Benz Sprinter ambulances for the National Ambulance Service (NAS)."

“A total of 16 companies participated, including the seven companies that eventually formed the Consortium during the pre-tender workshop round. The companies that formed the consortium included Luxury World Auto Group Limited, Elok Consult, RDC Company Limited, Beft Engineering Works Limited, Prestige Era Company Limited, Bluemix Company Limited, and Quality Supply and Builders Company Limited," the statement read.

In an earlier statement, the Ministry of Health confirmed a $10 million payment to the company for ambulance maintenance.

“The Ministry of Health would like to act only upon the request of the Health Ministry after the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives was dissolved to clarify that the Service Provider, Ghana Auto Group Limited, has not been paid an amount of $34.9 million as widely reported.”

“The Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring a sustainable maintenance regime for all fleets procured for the National Ambulance Service to provide reliable, efficient, and safe emergency medical services,” a statement issued by the Ministry read in part.