Former Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye, has issued a strong defense of Lightwave e-Healthcare Solutions Ltd, the local company behind Ghana’s national e-Health project, describing recent allegations against it by the current Health Minister as “false, unfair, and politically motivated.”
In a detailed statement, Dr. Okoe Boye accused his successor of attempting to “give a dog a bad name to hang it” a reference to what he called deliberate efforts to discredit a functioning national digital health system developed over eight years.
Background of the e-Health Project
The National e-Health Project, launched in 2016, was designed to digitize and interconnect all government health facilities across the country.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) contracted Lightwave e-Healthcare Solutions Ltd, a Ghanaian-owned company incorporated in 2015, to execute the initiative.
Phase One was implemented across 25 facilities in the Central Region, following a contract signed on April 1, 2016.
After a successful pilot, the Ministry sought approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for a nationwide rollout in 2018.
In July 2018, the PPA approved a sole-sourced national rollout worth US$186.79 million, but a subsequent Value for Money Audit by the MoF capped the project’s cost at US$100 million.
The final contract was signed on March 29, 2019, for a three-year period.
Project implementation was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply-chain disruptions, and non-compliance by some facilities, prompting extensions first to April 2023, and later to December 2024.
Project Achievements and Funding
Oversight of the project was provided by a Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of Health, with members including the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Director-General, the MoH IT Directorate, and CEOs of teaching hospitals.
The US$100 million project scope covered:
- Networking of 950 health facilities,
- Training of over 150,000 health workers, and
- Ongoing technical support and maintenance.
So far, Lightwave has digitized:
- 4 Teaching Hospitals,
- 6 Regional Hospitals,
- 243 District and Municipal Hospitals,
- 2 Psychiatric Hospitals,
- 49 Polyclinics, and
- 157 Health Centres.
According to financial records, US$76.99 million (62% from MoF and 38% from NHIA) has been paid, with US$23 million outstanding. A reconciliation as of December 2024 showed an unutilized advance of US$10.6 million yet to be expended.
Addressing the Minister’s Claims
Dr. Okoe Boye described five major allegations by the current Minister as “inaccurate and misleading.”
- Claim: Lightwave is a foreign company.
Fact: The company is wholly Ghanaian-owned and incorporated locally in 2015. - Claim: Lightwave switched off the health system.
Fact: There is no evidence of system deactivation. The company only informed the Ministry of its contract’s expiry and requested renewal, which was declined. Contract clauses (28.1–28.2) require third-party adjudication in case of disputes — a step the Ministry allegedly bypassed. - Claim: Ghana’s health data resides in India.
Fact: Data is stored on local servers at each facility and backed up to the MoH Data Centre in Accra. Lightwave insists that “Ghana’s data has always resided in Ghana.” - Claim: The company supplied inferior hardware.
Fact: Hardware supplied met all contractual specifications; the contract did not stipulate specific brands. - Claim: GHIMS will replace Lightwave to ensure Ghana owns its data.
Fact: Lightwave is already Ghanaian-owned, and the Republic of Ghana has always retained data ownership. The proposed Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) is, according to the former Minister, a private company that has digitized fewer than five facilities and has no proven national pilot.
Governance and Due Process Concerns
The former Minister also raised concerns about procedural lapses and governance breaches, alleging that:
- The Ministry withheld audit findings from Lightwave and denied the company a right of reply.
- The Attorney-General, serving as the government’s legal adviser, cannot simultaneously act as an independent adjudicator, as stipulated under the contract.
- The unilateral termination and replacement of a working digital health system risk data loss and disruption of healthcare services for over 25 million Ghanaians.
He further described the ongoing actions as part of a “predetermined agenda to discredit Lightwave and re-award its work to another vendor.”
Financial and Strategic Risks
Dr. Okoe Boye warned that replacing Lightwave with a new vendor could amount to financial waste, especially if Ghana has already paid more than US$73 million for infrastructure that remains operational and locally owned.
“If even 20 percent of the proposed new contract is used to redo existing work, that would constitute gross financial waste,”
he stated, adding that if the new company possesses greater capacity, it should be assigned only the remaining 500 facilities, not existing ones.
Call for Mediation
The former Minister has called on the Chief of Staff to mediate between the Ministry of Health and Lightwave e-Healthcare Solutions Ltd, emphasizing the need for fairness and transparency in resolving the dispute.
He maintained that Ghana cannot afford to “discard a working national system for political or commercial motives,” noting that the project has already achieved significant progress in training, digitization, and data integration.
Conclusion
The Lightwave controversy continues to stir debate within Ghana’s health and technology sectors. While the current Minister has cited procurement and data-security concerns, his predecessor insists the attacks are unfounded and risk undermining years of investment and progress in health digitization.
Observers say the outcome of this dispute will test Ghana’s commitment to transparency, data sovereignty, and the protection of local technology enterprises.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
