The Northern Regional executives of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has called on Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to immediately sanction an inquiry into the case of auctioned Chief Zosimli Naa medical supplies intended for Tamale Teaching Hospital if his office is not to be blamed about the development.
According to them, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, had failed to utilize his authority adequately to facilitate and expedite the clearance of the container, despite the waiver secured by the health directorate hence the alleged auction of the items.
They indicated that the office of Vice President’s instead of using its influence to swiftly locate and retrieve the auctioned medical supplies from the port, rather attempted to intimidate journalists for publishing the story. “There are allegations of his aide, Lawyer Akbar Yussif Rohullah Khomeini, attempting to intimidate Robicon Mornahson and Dr. Sa-ad Iddrisu of the United States, pressuring them to remove the published story from Radio Tamale’s website or face a court action”, they alleged.
The Northern Regional executives of the largest opposition party made these remarks at a press briefing on Thursday September 14, 2023.
Mohammed Abdul Salaam the Northern Regional Secretary of NDC, who addressed the media, on behalf of his colleagues’ executives thus demanded a thorough investigation to uncover the beneficiaries of the auctioned medical supplies by the Tema Port authorities.
“The public must know the faceless people who bought those medical supplies container from the Tema Port. It is again worth noting that the Tamale Teaching Hospital currently lacks a dialysis machine. Therefore, Chief Zosimli Naa’s acquisition of such equipment for the hospital should have been of particular interest to the Vice President, urging him to expedite the clearance process for the benefit of the people”, he added.
“We call upon His Royal Majesty the Yaa-Naa, chiefs, opinion leaders, religious leaders, and all well-wishers of the Northern region to take an active interest in this unfortunate situation and assist in locating the whereabouts of the over $400,000 worth of medical supplies shipped by Chief Zosimli Naa”, he called.
Meanwhile, responding to NDC claims on Diamond FM Siasa Saha a Dagbani political talk show, an aide to vice president, Lawyer Akbar Yussif Rohullah Khomeini, said the assertion by the northern regional opposition national democratic congress NDC is false and cannot be supported by the actual facts on the ground.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday September 12, 2023, the chief Zosimli Naa issued a statement accusing the Tema Port authority of auctioning a 40-foot container full of medical equipment her outfit procured for the Tamale Teaching Hospital and other hospitals in the Northern Region.
Zosimli Naa II in a letter to the Northern Regional Minister and other stakeholders said she was disappointed about the development.
“I am saddened to inform you that the 40 ft medical container, designated to serve the Northern Region community, has been auctioned by the Ghana Port Authorities,” she said.
“While this was not the outcome we had hoped for, I want to assure you that the office of Zosimli Naa, the team, our partner stakeholders, and I remain resilient and fully committed to executing our mission in fostering the development of support for maternal health,” she added.
The equipment estimated to cost over Gh¢4.6 million ($400,000) includes dialysis machines, oxygen tanks, and incubators among others which were procured by Zosimli Naa II, Ife Bell, a woman Chief leading the Tamale-Louisville sister city relationship.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana
