President Nana Akufo-Addo has asked opposition to stop politicizing his initiatives that seeks to bring national development.

Speaking at the official launch of Ghana’s newest medical drone delivery base in the city of Mampong during a tour of the Ashanti Region, Mr. Akufo-Addo slammed critics and their dishonest comments about the medical drone services.

He expressed concerns about comments that he said seeks to downplay the efficiency of the drones in the delivery of medical supplies to hard to reach areas in Ghana.

“We can all see how impactful this service has been. We cannot afford to play politics with everything in this country. The incessant politicization of all issues does no credit to Ghanaian politics.”

Zipline, a California-based robotics company, operates the medical drone delivery service with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UPS Foundation, Pfizer and other partners.

Like the facility in Omenako, the Mampong operation uses drones to make on-demand and emergency deliveries of 12 routine and emergency vaccines as well as 148 blood products and critical medicines. ?Ghana’s Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) will supply Zipline with Gavi-supported vaccines for delivery, including Yellow Fever, Polio, Measles & Rubella, Meningitis, Pneumococcal ?, and Diphtheria & Tetanus, among others. EPI will also leverage Zipline’s delivery service for future mass immunization programs in the country.

The service will operate seven days a week with the goal of delivering to up to 500 health facilities in the Ashanti region. The third drone delivery base will launch later this year and the fourth soon after that.