Copyright ghanaguardian
The Ministry of Health has referred the controversial Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) contract to the Attorney General for legal advice and further action after uncovering significant breaches in its execution. Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh made the disclosure during the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, noting that the contractor delivered less than half of the expected facility connections despite receiving over $77 million—more than 70 percent of the total $100 million contract sum. To restore efficiency in the country’s digital health infrastructure, the government has developed a new platform, the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), to replace the malfunctioning LHIMS. “Since we began this journey, all stakeholders have been on board — from the CEOs of teaching hospitals to EOCO, the Attorney General, and the Minister for Communication. The issue of legality and security has been referred to the Attorney General for advice and appropriate action,” Mr. Akandoh stated. He further revealed that the Lightwave contract was never laid before Parliament for approval and accused the vendor of acting in bad faith, making renegotiation difficult. The government has instructed Lightwave to hand over the system and its infrastructure to the state. However, the process has been hindered because the platform is hosted on a cloud server in India, restricting Ghana’s access and control.
