Former Presidential Staffer under the Presidency of John Mahama, Stan Xoese Dogbe, has called for the resignation of Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, accusing her for failing to negotiate for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines directly from the Government of Russia.
He contends that the inability of the Government of Ghana through her Foreign Minister to negotiate with Russia for the purchase of the vaccines at a lower price and revelations that the Government is relying on middlemen to procure the vaccines at a much higher price means she has failed at her role as Minister and ought to resign.
“My reading of Ghana’s Ministry of Health’s response to the reported fraud in the procurement of Sputnik V vaccines reveals a very disappointing and image denting development for Ghana.
What we are been told in paragraph 4, is that, under the government of Nana Akufo-Addo, himself a former Foreign Minister, Ghana’s international relations and positioning is totally weak.
And for me, if indeed what the government is telling is true, then I want to call for the immediate resignation of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway. She has failed in her role, for failing to hold high our relations with the Russian Government, and not able to engage and negotiate as other countries have done, with Russia to buy the Sputnik V vaccines. Ayorkor must resign,” he asserted.
It has come to light that the Government of Ghana is using middlemen for the purchase of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia instead of dealing directly with the government, which sells the vaccines at a lower price.
The decision by government has been much criticized some Ghanaians. But the Ministry of Health has defended the contracts, saying that the vaccines are needed urgently to protect the citizenry.
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