Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has called for the immediate termination of the government’s contract with Zipline, arguing that the drone delivery programme for essential medical supplies has become a waste of public funds.

His comments follow a request by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin for the Health Minister to appear before Parliament next week to brief the House on steps being taken to restore operations at three Zipline centres shut down over the government’s GH₵175 million indebtedness.

Addressing Parliament, Ayariga insisted that the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is fully capable of acquiring its own drones to deliver emergency medical supplies to remote communities.

“It’s a total waste of money. The most expensive drones don’t even go beyond twenty thousand dollars. By now, we would have had drones for every district in this country managed by the Ghana Health Service. Let’s do a total calculation on how much money we have wasted on this Zipline contract.”

He reiterated his position, calling for a complete cancellation of the agreement.

“I call for a cancellation of the contract. The contract should be cancelled. The Ghana Health Service should develop its own in-house capacity to deliver the blood through its own drones,” he added.