Ablakwa: 50% Of Payments To National Ambulance Service Diverted For Personal Gains

The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has disclosed that 50% of money demanded by personnel of the National Ambulance Service for fuel from families of patients is not used for the intended purpose.

According to the legislator, this was contained in an Auditor-General’s report submitted to Parliament last week.

“The report reveals that a shocking 50% of the payments by citizens as demanded by the staff of the National Ambulance Service for fuel are NOT used to purchase fuel; instead, those collections are scandalously diverted for discretionary items such as staff funeral support, buying microwaves, stationery, detergents, cost of photocopies and paying for “motivation of staff” ”.

Additionally, he noted that the Auditor-General did not find any receipt for such payments made to the Service.

Ablakwa further referenced Section 33(1) of the National Ambulance Service Act, 2020 (Act 1041) to describe as illegal the collection of money from the public by the service for fuel.

“The payments being demanded from the general public by the National Ambulance Service are illegal because Section 33(1) of the National Ambulance Service Act, 2020 (Act 1041) provides 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” ”.

It will be recalled that Augustina Awortwe, a pregnant woman in Takoradi lost her life after a Caesarean section following her husband’s failure to pay an amount of GHc600 to the National Ambulance Service for fuel to transport her to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

Responding to a Parliamentary Committee investigating the case which happened in January 2022, the CEO of the Service, Nuhu Zakaria said the collection of money for fuel forms part of their standard practice due to resource constraints.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini