Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has disclosed that investigations into the $100 million Lightwave Health Information Management System (LIMS) contract revealed massive underperformance and irregularities, including an estimated $18 million shortfall in supplied hardware.
The revelations come after the shutdown of the national health information system caused significant disruptions across hospitals, forcing some facilities to temporarily revert to cash-and-carry operations.
Patients with valid NHIS cards were reportedly turned away or asked to pay for services due to the system’s failure to verify insurance status.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, Mr. Akandoh said the contractor failed to deliver the required quantity and quality of equipment as outlined in the agreement.
“Even the hardware there were gaps in the supply of the hardware. The supply of computers. Computers. If assuming the contract is stated that they should supply HP laptops, you go and cheaper brands are supplied. They should supply let’s say 100, you go and less than 100. So there were issues of quality of the equipment or material supplied and there were issues of quantity, the number supplied. And upon analysis you realise that the gap alone where was not less than 18 million dollars,” Mr. Akandoh stated.
According to the Minister, although the contractor was expected to connect 950 health facilities nationwide, only 450 had been completed by the end of 2024, despite receiving over 77 million dollars — more than 70% of the total contract sum.
“Clearly more than 70 percent of the total amount had been paid. And 50 percent of the work has been done. At that point we had to refer everything to the AG and the appropriate courthouse in Greenland security for advice and appropriate action. As a ministry what we had to concern ourselves with was a solution of the matter to get out of this mess,” he added.
The Ministry has since procured a new platform — the Ghana Healthcare Information Management System (GHIMS) — to replace the malfunctioning system and ensure continuity in healthcare delivery across the country.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
