Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr. Mark Kurt Nawaane, has criticised the introduction of medical drone delivery company Zipline in Ghana, describing it as a solution to a problem the country does not have.
Speaking to journalists in Accra on Thursday, December 4, the Nabdam MP said former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia misdiagnosed the real challenge facing the nation’s health sector when he advocated for the deployment of Zipline.
According to Dr. Nawaane, the main issue is not the transportation of blood or medical supplies, but the persistent shortage of voluntary blood donors across the country.
“Zipline’s presence in this country is a mistake. I am not being political. It was the brainchild of his excellency, the former vice president, Dr Bawumia, and I will advise that in the management of the economy, he did not do so well, but in the area of technology and medicine, he should leave that to those in that area. It is not his field. I am saying this because he wrongly diagnosed the problem in Ghana,” Dr. Nawaane said.
“Everybody in the health sector knows that the problem of blood and blood products is not transportation. The problem is the lack of voluntary donors. It is not a situation where the blood is located in Accra and needs to be transported to Koforidua or Kumasi.”
He added that the money spent on Zipline, estimated at 528,000 dollars per month, could have been invested in establishing cold rooms in district hospitals and health centres to store blood and other critical medical supplies.
“As a nation, if for the past five years we wanted to establish cold rooms in all district hospitals and health centers, we should have been able to do it,” he said.
Dr. Nawaane’s remarks come amid growing debate over the future of Zipline’s operations in Ghana. Calls for the termination of the company’s contract have intensified, with Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and other MPs describing the initiative as a mismanagement of public funds that has failed to deliver value for money.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said discussions with Zipline are ongoing, with no final decision yet made on the company’s future in the country.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, December 1, 2025, he said: “We have not gotten to that point yet. We are still engaging them. When we get there, you will hear what decision we will take. Everybody has a right to express an opinion, including Members of Parliament.”
The government is expected to announce its next steps once negotiations with Zipline are concluded.
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