The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has indicated that the government cannot continue to spend GHS170million annually for the Zipline to be sending blood and other products to health facilities using drones.

Responding to concerns raised by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, over the cancellation of the contract, Mr Ayariga explained that the Ministry of Health should have bought its own drones after all those years the contract had existed.

"...you cannot continue spending that kind of money that you are paying a service provider, as it is a total waste of money,” he said on the floor of Parliament on Friday, Nov 28, 2025.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin then urged that the Minister of Health address the matter, particularly the measures being taken to resolve it, “because it is not those of us in the cities that will suffer from this shutdown.”

“It is those in the rural areas who otherwise would need emergency medical care and if there is blood, there is the need for them to get blood transfusion as quickly as possible,” he said.

He recalled that the Zipline contract was signed somewhere in 2021, but such a contract had been a drain on national resources.

“Can you imagine every year we are spending GH¢170 million so that they will go and drop blood in some village and then come back?"

“Meanwhile, there is a road network leading to almost every town, every community in this country, and there are only a few locations that you would say the roads are not accessible,” Mr Ayariga said.

The Bawku Central MP argued that the money spent could have been invested in tarring roads to all the regions Zipline served, while the GHS could have obtained drones to make deliveries on its own schedule.

The Leader asked about the price of drones, stating that some models are sold for $4,000–$5,000, while the costliest drones stay below $10,000–$20,000.

“By now we would have had drones for every district in this country managed by the Ghana Health Service.

“Let us go and do a total calculation of how much money we have wasted on this Zipline contract,” he said.

On the 6th-year anniversary of commencing operations in Ghana, Zipline, the world’s largest autonomous logistics system,

has successfully delivered more than 8.4 million medical products in the country, marking a major milestone in the country’s journey toward equitable healthcare access.

Since its launch in 2019, Zipline has served as a critical infrastructure partner for the Government of Ghana.

It has delivered more than 8.4 million medical units – including medications for malaria, HIV, and TB, family planning products, blood products, vitamins, nutritional products, medicines for pregnant women, and more than 17 million vaccine doses – to over 3,000 hospitals, health centers, and CHPS compounds in 14 regions of the country.

Operating from six hubs, Zipline’s autonomous drones enable real-time delivery of medical products regardless of weather, terrain, or infrastructure challenges – revolutionizing last-mile delivery in the health sector.

In 2021, Zipline partnered with Gavi and the UPS Foundation to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine and has since delivered more than 3.4 million doses, including hundreds of thousands of mRNA vaccines.

Research conducted shows that the company disproportionately serves the most vulnerable populations in Ghana, with rural and hard-to-reach districts receiving 30 percent more COVID-19 vaccines than less remote districts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zipline is set to scale up its life-saving drone delivery services across Africa following a landmark $150 million pay-for-performance commitment from the U.S. Department of State.

The initiative will boost the company’s AI and robotics infrastructure and strengthen support for African governments implementing national health logistics systems. Under the expanded programme, more than 10,000 additional health facilities and community drop sites are expected to be added, enabling on-demand delivery of essential medicines to over 130 million people.

The expansion is also projected to generate more than 800 high-tech jobs on the continent and unlock over $1 billion in annual economic growth.

According to Zipline, the partnership marks a new phase in global health delivery—one driven by African leadership, advanced technology, and measurable impact.

Country Director, Daniel Merki, joined Citi FM on November 2022, to discuss how Zipline is working with the Government of Ghana to transform healthcare access,

According to him, it has made over 800,000 deliveries nationwide to a 56% drop in maternal deaths in Zipline-supported areas.

“Zipline is more than a service provider; we're infrastructure in service of the government’s agenda,” he added.