Stuck Global Fund drugs: ‘I shudder to think if we have a president in this country’ – Amaliba

Abraham Amaliba, the Director of Conflict Resolution of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has expressed grave concerns about the failure of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to facilitate the clearance of Global Fund drugs that were stuck at the Tema Port.

Mr Amaliba cast doubt on the presence of a president in the country.

The NDC Communicator made the assertions when he appeared on The Big Issue segment of TV3 New Day on Friday, June 14.“The buffoonery with which this government is managing the affairs of this country is mind-boggling. The behavior of government in some of these things are ridiculous and amusing. You are a poor country; you have borrowed this country in debt, you can’t pay your debts, your economy has been downgraded, and a Global Fund that is like Father Christmas has given you drugs to help your people.

“Sometimes I shudder to think if we have a president in this country. Is there somebody who is called a president in this country? Do we have a president at all?” Mr Amaliba voiced his frustrations with President Akufo-Addo, who, he believes, failed to act early enough on the matter.

Mr Amaliba further indicated that the government has refused to clear the containers because there is no direct financial benefit to the government from clearing the medical supplies.

“This government, if they will not benefit financially from anything, they have no business dealing with that thing for the people of this country,” he stated.

Asked about how the government stands to benefit financially from the clearing of the containers, Mr Amaliba said, “These are drugs so they will not benefit from it. They will only do that if they were going to benefit financially from it.”

“They will clear and then benefit,” he told Berla Mundi, co-host of the New Day.The Global Fund for Community Foundation donated these medical supplies to Ghana free of charge, however, it has taken Ghana’s government and the Ministry of Health more than a year to clear the life-saving commodities.

Disturbingly, a huge chunk of the commodities is expected to expire by the first quarter of 2025, if not cleared immediately for use by patients.

The government is only required to cater for the taxes, levies, and port charges for the clearance of the commodities, which were estimated at US$3.6 million.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on Thursday, announced that the government has released some GHC7.4 million “to complement the payment of third-party charges as outlined above.”

“It is expected that with the funds received, all outstanding containers will be cleared by the end of June 2024,” the Ministry added.