Lack of information on medical supplies caused delay – Finance Ministry

George Winful, the Director responsible for policy decisions at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has attributed the delayed clearance of medical supplies from the Tema Port to the late receipt of information.

Speaking on Friday, April 12, Mr Winful highlighted that the Ministry of Health (MoH) managed to clear 14 out of the 182 containers stranded at the port, containing vital medicines and non-medicinal items.

In response to these delays, Mr Winful announced plans to establish an inter-agency committee involving stakeholders to mitigate such occurrences in the future.

“Unfortunately, upon arrival of the consignments at the port, the associated charges could not be paid, and this information was also not communicated to the MoF on time.

“Coupled with this, our investigation also confirmed that many of the players in the health delivery chain still do not understand the exemption arrangement. Hence the delay in the clearing of consignments at the port.”

“Upon establishing these facts, the MoF coordinated with the MoH, GRA, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority, NIB and other governmental agencies came together to ensure that the situation was resolved as soon as possible.

“Going forward to ensure that such an urgency does not occur, an inter-governmental committee is being set up comprising of representatives of MoF, MoH, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, and GRA. The committee will work together to address such matters should they come up to ensure their smooth resolution,” he stated.