Sputnik V saga: By the grace of God, full refund is in govt’s account – Afenyo-Markin

• Deputy Majority Leader Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin confirms government has received a refund for a botched vaccine deal

• The Emirati supplier in an August 11 letter said he has paid over 2.4 million dollars in lieu of the payment

• Afenyo-Markin believes it puts to rest calls for resignation of embattled Health Minister

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has confirmed that government of Ghana has been credited with over 2.4 million dollars from an Emirati vaccine supplier.

Afenyo-Markin, who led a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee that probed the botched Sputnik V deal, told Joy FM that he had it on good authority that the full sum has been received.

“Let me confirm on good authority that the payment has been made, the refund has been made. For me, the major concern of Ghanaians in all of this was possible financial loss to the state,” he said.

“The Minister like I said in my debate was sincere and candid in everything he did, information flow to us, written evidence to us all, of that… today, by the Grace of God, the funds have fully landed in the account of government of Ghana.”

He added that with the refund, the Sputnik V saga must end along with calls for the embattled Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu to resign over malfeasance relative to the procurement of the vaccines.

“The minister was sincere and candid in everything he did… the Minister never lied,” he stressed.

But Minority Chief whip and MP for Asawase, Mubarak Muntaka Mubarak said the saga has far from ended, he insists that the Minister lied to Parliament and that the Minority caucus’ motion of censure will continue unabated.

He also advised Afenyo-Markin to desist from his line of defense for the Minister because the harder he tries, the more he insults the intelligence of Ghanaians.

The procurement of the Russia-made vaccines have been the subject of protracted public discourse after it emerged that Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu breached laid down processes and procedures in dealing with the suppliers.

Calls continue for his resignation over malfeasance even though the supplier in question, one Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Makhtoum has as it stands now, refunded over 2.4 million dollars, which is the cost of some 280,000 doses that his office failed to deliver.

The Minister is currently on a two-week leave to attend to ‘personal issues,” and the president has shown no signs of relieving him of his post.

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