Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a member of the Appointments Committee in Parliament has expressed shock at the level at which some government ministerial nominees are shying away from providing clarity on the contract granted Frontiers Healthcare Solution Services Limited to conduct COVID-19 test at the Kotoka International Airport.

The North Tongu legislator is yet to come to terms with the posturing of the Ministers-designate over the matter.

Five ministerial nominees who were supposed to be privy to the contract have all denied knowledge of same raising pockets of suspicion among a section of the vetting panel and even some Ghanaians.

Ministerial nominees for Health, Foreign Affairs, National Security, Justice and Gender [Former Procurement Minister] failed to explain the fundamental issue of how the contract was sourced moments after the reopening of the country’s air borders to travellers in September 2020.

Mr. Ablakwa has thus described the turn of events as the “world’s biggest mystery”.

Speaking on the Point of View on Citi TV, he asked:

“Why has this become the world’s biggest mystery? Why has it become like a plague that no one wants to go near? Everyone is fleeing. Let us see what the procurement processes are. Where is the contract? Let’s see it and the terms of it.”

Mr. Ablakwa on the show argued that, the inability of the nominees to provide real answers is because “the whole framework model is wrong with the mindset of profiteering.”

He wondered why a contract will be awarded to a firm without a track record.

The Minority MP further asked why the government did not make resources available to build the capacity of local agents such as the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to conduct the testing but decided to hand it over to a foreign-owned company.

“The solutions of Frontiers not having a track record was available on the shelves and could be sold. This was a golden opportunity to support Noguchi to build capacity”, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ablakwa says his side will continue to pose this fundamental question to solicit possible appropriate answers from nominees particularly Finance and Transport who are yet to appear before the Appointments Committee in the coming days.

“We will keep repeating and putting this question to the nominees. We have said in Parliament to have the contract because by law we carry oversight, but everyone is running away. We must know what is going on”, he noted.