…As Ametor Kwami Says $52,000 Car Is Cheap!

It has now emerged that the latest V8 Land Cruiser bought by the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr. Sylvester Mensah a couple of months ago cost a whopping $82, 000.00 or one billion and one hundred and eighty-nine million old cedis, a whopping expensive expenditure that would shock many poor taxpayers!

The car, a black and chrome alloy monster, was bought by Mr. Sylvester Mensah, in spite of the fact that he is the proud user of another Land Cruiser, left to him by the previous Chief Executive, Mr. Ras Boateng.

In addition to the Land Cruiser, Mr. Mensah also bought a Nissan Teanna saloon car at a cost of $52, 000.00 (seven hundred and fifty-four million old cedis) also for his personal use, even though he is still refusing to pay legitimate claims by various schemes from across the country.

Meanwhile, in the absence of Mr. Mensah, who is in Dubai leading a huge nine-member delegation to a useless conference at state cost (more on that later), his Director of Corporate and Strategic Direction, Mr. Eric Ametor Kwami says the 2009 model of the Nissan Teana bought for Mr. Sylvester Mensah is very cheap at the cost of $52, 000.00!

Ametor, a stick-in-the-mud member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who was also the Deputy Communications Director to the Atta Mills 2008 Campaign team and one time vociferous critic of government and state institutions over exactly similar conduct in the past, this time sees nothing wrong when the very institution he works for is blwoing billions and billions of public money on luxury vehicles whilst the poor is denied healthcare!

In his reactions to a story carried by this newspaper yesterday on Radio Gold, an Accra based radio station, he said “the Nissan Teana compared to Honda Civic is far less costly. The car in question is not the most expensive one on the market.”

Ametor said even though they came to meet two (2) Land Cruisers parked at the Headquarters, the CEO could not have used any of them as his official car because they (the two Land Cruisers) were at the disposal of other directors for use on their official duties.

“Even though he uses the Land Cruisers occasionally, there is the need to provide for him an official vehicle in his capacity as the Head of Authority,” the Director of Corporate and Strategic Direction of the NHIA added.

But as Ametor Kwami and his boss are blowing billions on cars, not a single day passes without a subscriber of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) being turned away anytime they visit the hospital or clinic for treatment or an administrator of a health facility battling officials of the NHIA on radio over delayed claims!

Since Mr. Sylvester Mensah was plucked from the Makola Ghana Law School and made the CEO of the NHIA, his administration has refused to pay the legitimate claims of most health insurance schemes providers across the country on allegations that they are bad debts, whilst he and his associates from the NDC working at the NHIA are engaging in a huge spending spree!

In his spending glee, he has bought 10 Toyota Fortuner Vehicles for the use of his directors and also parking the authority with men and women from the NDC after the duplications of positions for them to take over from those the Mr. Sylvester Mensah administration came and met. Eyes are vigilantly watching.