Anti-graft campaigner Vitus Azeem is demanding a probe into circumstances leading to the signing of the Covid-19 testing contract at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
It follows details alleging that the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) was short-changed by Frontiers HealthCare Services which was contracted by the government to conduct Covid-19 tests.
Documents sighted by JoyNews show that the company agreed to pay $10 to the GACL per antigen test conducted.
However, sources close to GACL say they are only receiving $4 instead of the agreed $10, a development that violates the terms of the agreement.
Speaking to JoyNews, Vitus Azeem suspects that there is a cloud of secrecy surrounding the contract which raises concerns.
"The first two Covid-19 cases were recorded on March 12, 2020. So I don't think we needed to wait for September 2020 to start thinking about somebody to do the tests," he said on Wednesday.
Some government officials have argued that the unorthodox manner in which the company was handled is because of the emergency nature of its activities in the context of the pandemic.
But the anti-corruption campaigner will have none of that.
"You said that it was an emergency. You cannot wait until the last day or the day that you want to start and award the contract. It means that you didn't have somebody.
It could even mean that they didn't go through the procurement process and somebody just popped up and they decided to award the contract to her," he added.
This, he believes, is worrying.
President Akufo-Addo last year announced the reopening of the country’s airports on September 1, 2020.
But fresh details emerging reveals the contract granting Frontiers HealthCare Services license to operate was signed the same day they began antigen testing at the KIA.
The documents sighted by JoyNews also indicates the GACL granted the testing agency license to run their operations on September 1, 2020.
On Tuesday, Transport Minister-designate Kwaku Asiamah told Parliament’s appointments committee that the Frontier Healthcare services were only granted rental space by the GACL to undertake its duties.
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