The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has questioned former president John Mahama’s motive for criticising the release of 307 ambulances to all constituencies in the country.

During a Facebook live interaction on Thursday, the former president said the ambulances will not serve any purpose because hospitals and clinics which his administration started, have not been completed

Mr Mahama wondered where President Akufo-Addo expected sick people to be taken to in the ambulances when many hospitals in the country do not have adequate emergency units.

But speaking to journalists, the Information Minister said while government is not surprised by Mr Mahama’s comments, it is disappointed.

“Any investment in the health care infrastructure or pre-hospital health care is good news for our people and nobody should be deliberately poo-pooing it just in an attempt to score political points,” he told journalists.

The ambulances will be sent to all 275 constituencies in the country

Mr Oppong Nkrumah wondered where the former president’s party expected sick people to be taken when they held a press conference demanding, with an ultimatum, the distribution of the ambulances.

“…is it that these comments are deliberately being thrown out there to create disaffection or embarrassment for government,” he queried.

The Minister reminded the former president of an announcement made about the purchase of some 600 ambulances in 2012 during the Mills-Mahama administration and questioned if all hospitals had been completed before that declaration was made.

He said the ambulances are a good addition to the health care infrastructure of the country and the former president will be better served if he contributes to making the new ambulances serve their purpose.

President Akufo-Addo commissioned the 307 ambulances on Tuesday

“But to begin to change your own positions is actually laughable. We should all focus on the major conversation that this is helpful to the country about how they will be maintained, paid for, prank calls reduced and ensure that emergency health care is improved. Not trying to score cheap political points with it.”

No need to commission or create funfair

Reacting to the former president’s comments that there was no need for a ceremony to commission the ambulances, Mr Oppong Nkrumah did not see anything wrong with it.

He said if the former administration had purchased state-of-the-art ambulances as this government has, it would have stopped at nothing to hold a ceremony to commission them.

“If you bring in ambulances that are not fit for purpose, even the State could not accept them, how are you going to have a ceremony to commission them? So we understand why they couldn’t do that. But when they brought in their fire tenders, they had a ceremony to dispatch them.

“When they brought their 10 mobile clinics, they had a whole ceremony to create public awareness about what they had done and how it was going to help people. So what has changed between then and now,” he asked.