[ 2021-02-13 ]

We are not in normal times – Okoe Boye
Former Deputy Health Minister, Benard Okoe Boye
has explained why Frontier Health Service Limited
was allowed to commence testing for Covid-19 at
the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) before
acquiring a license.

According to Dr Benard Okoe Boye, the decision
became necessary at a crucial time when there was
an urgent need to deal with the pandemic in the
country.

“We all agree that we are not in normal times.
We are managing a pandemic that is new to us,”
he said.

“We were also looking at timelines and the fact
that we had to open the airport but we also
couldn’t compromise the safety of the populace.
So we had some solutions provided that people who
could perform come to us,” he said.



Dr Okoe Boye’s comment comes after Health
Minister-designate Kwaku Agyeman-Manu admitted
that Frontier, the company tasked with conducting
Covid-19 tests at the Kotoka International Airport
(KIA) started operations without a license.

During Mr Agyeman Manu’s vetting, Wednesday, he
justified the move with a claim that, “in the
pandemic, there were certain things that we had to
do and try to rectify as we go forward because of
the urgency of what we should do immediately”.


This has raised questions as to whether the
company went through the right processes,
including procurement, before being offered the
contract.

Providing further clarification, Dr Okoe Boye
stated that Frontier met the standards required of
them to perform the task, thus, the decision to
award them the contract.



“My point is that we wanted a solution and we
found someone who had a solution,” he said.

“I would not be absolute about this and say it
was 100% right or wrong but what I’m comfortable
about is that the taskforce made sure the
equipment to be used had been authenticated and
validated by the FDA, and all the officials that
were going to work at the facility were approved
by the Allied Council,” he added.

Source - Joyfm

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