Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has revealed that the $100 million Lightwave Health Information Management System contract, signed under the previous government, suffered massive irregularities, including an $18 million shortfall in hardware supply, and has now been referred to the Attorney General for further action.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, Mr. Akandoh said investigations showed that while the contractor was contracted to connect 950 health facilities nationwide, only 450 had been completed by the end of 2024, despite having received over 77 million dollars — more than 70% of the total contract sum.
The Health Minister disclosed that the hardware supplied was insufficient and often of lower quality than stipulated, contributing to a shortfall estimated at $18 million.
This failure left the state without full control of electronic medical records, some of which were hosted on servers abroad, raising serious legal and security concerns.
“And so upon analysis you realise that the gap alone where was not less than $18m. Again I have stated that the contract sum was 100 million dollars. At the end of 31st December 2024, although 450 out of the 950 had been connected, the vendor had been paid about 77 million dollars.
Clearly more than 70 percent of the total amount had been paid. And 50 percent of the work has been done. At that point, we had to refer everything to the AG and the appropriate courthouse in Greenland security for advice and appropriate action,” he explained.
Mr. Akandoh further noted that the government has since rolled out a state-controlled platform to replace the previous system, secure sensitive health data, and ensure connectivity across all health facilities.
The minister emphasized that key stakeholders, including the teaching hospitals, EOCO, the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Communication, have been involved in implementing GHIMS, reflecting the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability while addressing past contract failures.
