The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga has demanded that the government terminates its contract with Zipline for the drone delivery of necessary medications.
His remarks follow the request made by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin for the Leader of Government Business to call a meeting with the Health Minister next week to provide Parliament with an update on plans to revitalize Zipline operations at three centers that were closed because of the government’s outstanding debt of GH₵175 million.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Friday, November 28, Mahama Ayariga said government has only wasted money, insisting that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) should be able to develop its own drones to deliver critical drugs.
“It’s a total waste of money. The most expensive drones don’t even go beyond twenty thousand dollars. By now, we would have had drones for every district in this country managed by the Ghana Health Service. Let’s do a total calculation on how much money we have wasted on this Zipline contract.”
“I call for a cancellation of the contract. The contract should be cancelled. The Ghana Health Service should develop its own in-house capacity to deliver the blood through its own drones,” he added.
Ghana has a long-standing contract with Zipline for medical drone delivery, first approved by Parliament in late 2018 for a four-year term and costing approximately $12.5 million.
The agreement allows Zipline to provide autonomous logistics network to deliver essential medical supplies to health facilities across Ghana.
Parliament approved the contract in December 2018, authorizing the government to pay Zipline $12.5 million over four years.
Zipline was to install, operate, and maintain the drone delivery system from distribution centers across the country.
The initial contract was expanded, with Zipline adding more distribution centers and serving a wider network of health facilities.
While the initial contract was valued at $12.5 million over four years, other reports indicate specific costs per distribution center per month ($88,000) and payments were added to the national budget later on.
Despite its expansion and success, recent reports indicate that Zipline has had to suspend some services in Ghana due to government payment arrears, highlighting ongoing financial challenges in the partnership.
