Ablakwa Alleges Goil Supplies National Ambulance Service Fuel

Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged that there already exists a provision for fuel for the National Ambulance Service for it to undertake its services.

He says it is according to a document he has intercepted which confirms the payment of money to energy giant Goil for the supply of fuel to the Service.

“Documents we have intercepted from the Akufo-Addo Presidency confirm that between January and December 2021, the Presidency paid GOIL an impressive GHS5,174,600.00 in two tranches of GHS3,083,550.00 and GHS2,091,050.00 to supply fuel to the National Ambulance Service for free ambulance services to citizens.

“Further analysis will show that the GHS 5.17 million paid to GOIL in 2021 alone by the Presidency for fuel coupons translates into a handsome GHS18,817 per year for each of Ghana’s 275 Constituencies or a decent allocation of GHS1,568 a month”, he said in a Facebook post”, a statement from Ablakwa said.

It is undisputed that the NAS demands money from families of patients who need its services for fuel, an action that cost the life of Augustina Awortwe, a pregnant woman in Takoradi who lost her life after a Caesarean section following her husband’s failure to pay an amount of GHc600 to the NAS for fuel to transport her to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in January 2022.

This is despite Section 33(1) of the National Ambulance Service Act, 2020 (Act 1041) which states that: “No person shall take part in, direct or organise the collection or soliciting of money from the public for the purpose of the provision of ambulance services provided by the Service.”

But responding to a Parliamentary Committee investigating the case of Augustina, the Chief Executive Officer for the NAS, Nuhu Zakaria stated that the collection of money for fuel forms part of their standard practice due to resource constraints.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini