Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has released an exposé to shed light on what he deems a bombshell offer letter from the Ghana Airport Company Limited to Frontiers Healthcare Services Limited for the testing of COVID-19 at the airport.
According to the MP, the information “shall ensure that this grand Frontiers create, loot and share; together with all those who fronted for Frontiers are duly exposed and sanctioned for God and Country.”
This explosive offer letter, according to Mr Ablakwa, reveals the following:
1. Frontiers was handpicked in an opaque sweetheart deal after a hush-hush discussion;
2. Ghana’s procurement laws were blatantly and violently flouted. In fact, Ghana’s procurement laws were suspended;
3. This was not a competitive exercise as credible institutions such as Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, Korle Bu Central Laboratory and others who were at the forefront of the COVID containment were sidelined as government opted for the overnight incorporated dubious Frontiers;
4. This letter incredibly reveals how an offer was made to Frontiers on 31st August, 2020 and how actual testing magically commenced the next day, September 1, 2020. Something to soon feature in Guinness World Records;
5. In a total rip off, the government per the offer letter asked for a fixed share of a measly and wickedly unpatriotic $10 per test as Frontiers keeps $140 per test considering that Frontiers was charging each passenger $150;
6. Shockingly, Frontiers was asked according to the offer letter to make a paltry and insulting payment of only $97,109.00 as proof of acceptance of the offer for an exclusive control of the Upper Arrival, Terminal 3, KIA — regardless of the fact that Frontiers stood to make and has indeed made profits worth hundreds of millions of dollars;
7. Despite this outrageous giveaway, Frontiers was exempted from paying water bills;
8. The offer letter did not provide technical specifications, standards and the specific amount of investment Frontiers was obliged to make in setting up the testing facility which actually exposes how everything was skewed by government officials to collude with Frontiers in raping Ghanaians;
9. The offer letter made no reference to mandatory authorization from the Health Facilities Regulatory Authority (HeFRA) as a condition precedent which explains why Frontiers commenced work many months before it applied to HeFRA for licensing after my original exposé;
10. From the intercepted offer letter, Frontiers was granted an unfathomable long duration of 2 years to loot, create and share; and that was regardless of whether Covid is defeated in a few weeks or not. This also explains why Ghana was basically the only country still testing at the airport many months after airport authorities in many other jurisdictions had stopped and dismantled their testing systems;
11. The evidence is overwhelming that this Frontiers deal was a grand operation between a buccaneer government and lootocratic entrepreneurs to make a fortune at a time many were being killed and hospitalized by a devastating pandemic.
He noted that conservative analysis of passenger traffic statistics available on the website of the Ghana Airport Company shows that during the 2-year period of Frontiers’ scam operations — there were an estimated 1 million arrivals at KIA.
“Factoring eventual reductions from $150 to $50 only for ECOWAS nationals, Frontiers and those vampires who fronted for them must have raked in not less than US$130million in killer profits. This happened during a public health crisis,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Ablakwa says he will, in subsequent publications, release more documents on this unconscionable killer Frontiers scandal.
GACL fined GHS200,000 for withholding information on Frontiers Healthcare Services contract
In a letter dated September 20, 2023, bearing reference number RTIG/RF/voL4/856, the Commission expressed its dissatisfaction with GACL’s delay in furnishing the requested information.
It should be noted that the Commission had previously issued directives on February 3, 2023, and February 16, 2023, outlining the required format for the information’s submission and emphasizing that the information was already accessible.
While acknowledging the importance of fairness, the Commission did grant GACL a one-week extension in response to their request.
However, the Commission firmly rejected GACL’s plea for the waiver of the administrative penalty amounting to ¢200,000, which had been imposed by the Commission in a letter dated August 23, 2023.
The Commission justified its stance by underscoring the lack of cooperation demonstrated by GACL in adhering to their earlier directives. This was perceived as a deliberate effort to obstruct the implementation of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), which empowers the Commission to impose administrative penalties on entities that fail to fulfill their obligations under the Act.
In a letter signed by Executive Secretary Yaw Sarpong Boateng, the Commission clarified that it lacked the authority to waive the already imposed ¢200,000 penalty and advised GACL to make the payment as per the Commission’s directive.
The controversy emerged when JoyNews requested access to the contract between GACL and Frontiers Healthcare Services, the entity responsible for COVID-19 testing at the airport.
GACL declined to disclose this information, citing Section 10 of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), which allows for exemptions under specific conditions.
GACL’s argument rested on the claim that the contract contained exempted information, such as trade secrets and financial data with potential monetary value. They contended that disclosing this data could harm the state’s financial interests, disrupt business and trade, and potentially provide a competitive advantage or disadvantage to specific individuals by offering advanced knowledge of future economic measures.
Furthermore, GACL stated that some contract-related information and revenue details from testing were not within their possession.
JoyNews challenged this stance, asserting that the requested information did not fall within the broad exemptions outlined in Section 10 of the RTI law.
The Right to Information Commission intervened and, following a comprehensive review, conveyed its decision to GACL through a letter dated February 3, 2023.
The Commission’s findings contradicted GACL’s position, emphasizing that the contract had already been executed and did not hold any monetary or potential monetary value for the state.
Additionally, the Commission determined that disclosing the requested information would not compromise the financial interests of the state.
As a result, the Commission issued a directive to GACL, mandating the release of not only the Frontiers contract but also a summary of procurement details related to the transaction between GACL and Frontiers Healthcare Services Ltd, excluding tax information and evaluative processes.
Furthermore, GACL was instructed to furnish information regarding the total revenue generated from Covid-19 testing at the airport since the commencement of the agreement with Frontiers, including the amounts earned by Frontiers Health Services and the government from these operations.