Whistleblower Petitions NIB Boss ---Over Massive Fraud, Corruption And Procurement Breaches At Greater Accra Regional Hospital

The lead agent at God’s Eye PI and an anti-corruption campaigner and his team has petitioned the Director of National intelligence Bureau (NIB) over the high profile fraud, corruption practices and procurement branches in the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH).

In the said petition which has been intercepted by this network, read as follows: Sir, pursuant to Article 41(f) of the 1992 Constitution and Sections 1 & 2(c) of the Whistle-blower Act, 2006 (Act 720) and in consonant with our civic and social responsibility as a Private investigative body, we invite your office to further probe the above issues and apply the applicable laws therein bordering issues of fraud, corruption and procurement breaches at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital

The petition indicated that the evidence suggests a coordinated effort by some members of GARH’s management, past former Government appointees along with officials at the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Headquarters, to divert hospital revenue and compromise service delivery.

 The individuals linked to this scheme include the current Medical Director, Rev. Dr Ralph Armah, the former Medical Director, Dr Emmanuel Srofenyoh, the Head of the Clinical Engineering Department at GHS HQ, Dr Nicodemus Kafui Gebe, and Mr Giscard Opoku Ware, among others.

This fraudulent activity, particularly in the Imaging Department, has deprived GARH of much-needed internally generated revenue and so far they have disbursed over Ghc 7million to various Companies. 

Below are the key areas of concern:
1. The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Agreement with REFUAH LTD

In 2023, the hospital’s imaging machine malfunctioned. Instead of repairing or replacing the equipment, management outsourced the department’s operations to Refuah Ltd through a questionable PPP agreement. 

This contract violates the Public-Private Partnership Act, of 2020 (Act 1039) and the Public Procurement Act, of 2003 (Act 663), which mandate a transparent and competitive bidding process.

Investigations at the Registrar General’s Department revealed that Refuah Ltd with registration number CS017150223, was incorporated in February 2023, only four months before securing the contract. 

This means the Company was incorporated because of this contract, because even before they incorporated the Company, there is copious evidence to suggest unequivocally that they had already started the discussions on the contract. 

Refuah Company Limited only specializes in hospital equipment sales and has no experience in medical imaging or had previous experience of what they intend to do at GARH anywhere.
The terms of this agreement is a clear daylight robbery of the hospital funds to say the least.

 Sadly this contract contravened provisions of Act 1039 and Act 663 in totality. 

Per the dictates of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act, 2020 (Act 1039) there are lay down steps/stages when engaging in an agreement of that nature. For example: Section 34(2) which state unequivocally that a Public Private Partnership (PPP) process shall comprise the following stages:
(a) The project preparation stage; 
(b) The procurement stage; and 
(c) The contract and post-contract award management stage.

Unfortunately in this agreement, the Hospital authorities headed by the then Medical Director ignored the first two steps/stages and jumped straight to the last step in awarding the contract without also applying or obeying the dictate of the procurement laws governing procurement

 processes in this country. Per Sect 7(1) the procurement process relating to a partnership project shall be fair, transparent and competitive and subsection (3) reads: Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the procurement methods for partnership projects shall be based on a competitive selection criteria.

Under the agreement, GARH pays 80% of the department’s revenue to Refuah Ltd, which was responsible per the MOU for installing and maintaining new machines including Ultrasound machine, X-Ray machine and Fluoroscopy among others.

 This was however not the case as the Company only installed Ultrasound  Machine and repaired the Hospital existing X-Ray and Fluoroscopy machines , yet GHS and for that matter the Medical Director continue to pay them 80% of the revenue accrued from these machines.

 Again, hospital staff, not Refuah Ltd employees as greed on the MOU to be brought by the company to work and maintain the machines, are operating and maintaining the equipment—further highlighting the dubious nature of this contract.
So far GARH has under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Ralph Armah paid a whopping sum of Ghc 5million for their little work done.

 The continued payment of these monies by the Medical Director is a testimony on his complicity for condoning wrong and fraud. Sadly again, even though the machines broke down, the Medical Director kept paying them.

Sadly, as a result of Rev. Dr. Ralph Armah Acts or omission, the fraud perpetuates and he continues to pay them huge sums of monies therefore giving the man sitting on the fence little to think otherwise than to conclude on his obvious complicity on the matter.

2. Contract with Riverwoods Medical Equipment and Dialysis Company Ltd

Similar procurement breaches were uncovered in the contract awarded to Riverwoods Medical Equipment and Dialysis Company Ltd, with registration number BN001632017. 

Despite lacking expertise or certification in dialysis operations, this company secured a contract under false pretences. 

The Company lied on the contract document that it was registered as a limited Liability Company when in fact, a review of the company’s records indicates it was registered as a sole proprietorship, further casting doubt on its legitimacy.

 Again, the company does not have any known office or Landmark indicating where it operates from. 

3. Contract with Safe Africa Security Services Ltd
The hospital engaged Safe Africa Security Services Ltd with registration number CS039412017, without following due procurement processes. 

This company’s role is redundant, as the hospital already has an internal security team performing similar functions effectively. 

Under the agreement the company is required to provide seventy (70) security guards but clear checks indicated there are not more than 10 security guards around the new structure. 

The failure of the Medical Director to know these facts after reviewing the contract document is mindboggling if he is not benefitting directly from the contract, the why of his silence and continued payment for this clear fraud.

Sadly, GARH pays this Company a whopping Ghc 2, 000 for each security guard totalling a whopping Ghc 140, 000 monthly. 

Safe Africa however pays it security guards Ghc 500 each from these Ghc2, 000 it get from its contractors. This means the state or GARH is being robbed of a colossal Ghc 120, 000 each month for the entire existence (since 2016) of this shoddy deal and crazy deal.

4. Contract with Ash Town Cleaning Services
Ash Town Cleaning Services was contracted to provide cleaning services under highly questionable circumstances. Investigations revealed that this company is not registered with the Registrar of Companies and does not meet statutory tax obligations or meet his SSNIT obligations. 

Additionally, the contract’s financial details remain undisclosed, raising concerns about potential corruption. Again, the laws are clear on contract sum thresholds for an entity heads otherwise the PPA procurement process must be referred, yet that was not the case in this internal agreement with Ash Town Cleaning Services and others.

5. Financial Malpractice in the Billing Department
Our investigations uncovered significant financial irregularities in the Billing Department, led by Mr. Giscard Opoku Ware. 

An audit by the Revenue Monitoring Team revealed misappropriated funds involving Mr. Opoku Ware and several nurses. 

The head of the billing department Mr. Giscard Opoku Ware was busted alongside some Nurses for deliberately and with a clear “Mens rea” of misappropriating thousands of Ghana cedi. Despite recommendations from the Disciplinary Committee to reshuffle the affected staff, Mr. Opoku Ware and his associates remain in their positions, continuing to compromise the hospital’s financial integrity.

6. Leadership Failures and Staff Discontent
Since assuming office, Dr. Ralph Armah’s leadership style has fostered division and unethical practices, eroding staff morale. His alleged association with questionable individuals has resulted in widespread dissatisfaction, culminating in a sit-down strike by hospital specialists on January 8, 2025.

 This situation, although temporarily resolved through the intervention of the Ghana Health Service, continues to impact service delivery negatively.

7. Financial Decline and Revenue Losses
The castigating effect of all these corrupt acts, fraud and impunity on the finances of the Hospital is that, GARH has recorded the lowest income generated so far in recent history since the Medical Director assumed leadership of the Hospital

For example, the Imaging Department’s revenue for the first half of 2024 dropped to ¢1,800,311.00, compared to ¢3,099,848.99 in 2023 and ¢3,243,440.45 in 2022—an alarming trend that highlights the damaging impact of these fraudulent contracts.

They concluded by offering some Recommendatioto safeguard GARH’s financial health and restore integrity, they strongly recommend the following:
1.Immediate termination of all these questionable contracts to prevent further financial losses.

2.Interdiction of Giscard Opoku Ware and his associates, as recommended by the Disciplinary Committee, and the launch of a forensic audit into the Billing Department.

3.Suspension of the Medical Director and implicated officials to ensure an impartial investigation.

4.Legal action against the owner of the so-called Riverwoods Medical Equipment and Dialysis Company Ltd for submitting false documentation or misrepresenting itself to obtain a government contract.

5.Procurement of a new CT scan, X-Ray, Ultrasound, Fluoroscopy and MRI machines to eliminate reliance on Refuah Ltd.

We are available for further discussions to facilitate and provide undisputed evidence in pursuit of a thorough investigation into these allegations Sir. 
The said petition was signed by a member of the team and an investigative Journalist, Madam
Rahinatu Abdul Bach
And same copied to the following designations below:

Cc:
• H.E. The President of Ghana – Jubilee House, Accra
• The Chief of Staff, Jubilee House, Accra
• Hon. Minister of Health – Ministries, Accra
• National Security Coordinator
• Director-General, Ghana Health Service – Headquarters, Accra
• The Regional Director, Greater Accra Region
• File copy