Senior Project Manager at Lightwave E-Healthcare, Eric Agyei, has disclosed that the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, was fully aware of the operations of Lightwave Health Information Systems when he (Mr Akandoh) was a Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee.
Therefore, he does not understand the U-turn by the minister and accusations such as holding Ghana’s health data to ransom, hosting parts of the system in India, and receiving excess payments for work delivered.
Lightwave E-Healthcare is the company behind the Lightwave Health Information Systems (LHIS), an electronic platform for managing patient records across health facilities nationwide.
In the past few months, the system has faced challenges, affecting patient care, insurance processing, and hospital operations.
There has been a back-and-forth over the operation of the system, with accusations and counter-accusations between the minister and the firm.
Mr Akandoh had indicated that Lightwave E-Healthcare was paid 77 per cent of a US$100 million contract despite completing less than half of the work and further suggested that servers holding patient data were being hosted in India.
However, Lightwave E-Healthcare has denied these accusations and rather suggested that they are owed eight months of post-contract service.
In an exclusive interview with Kojo Yankson on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Agyei indicated that the minister was part of a parliamentary delegation that engaged in oversight activities relating to the firm’s second phase of the contract.
He does not understand why Mr Akandoh raised no objections at the time, despite being briefed on Lightwave’s activities, but is now waging a war against them.
“Yes, he (Mintah Akandoh) was (aware of the contract). I have met him a couple of times. I have done it (engagement with parliament’s health committee) twice, and in all, I have met the honourable minister at the time he was a ranking member. He was aware,” Mr Agyei said when Kojo Yankson asked if the minister was aware of the contract.
Read also: Lightwave E-Healthcare rejects health minister’s claims of overpayment and service disruption
Mr Agyei expressed surprise at the minister’s current criticism of the organisation.
“I would be surprised if he would stand anywhere or anybody would say anything that he is not aware,” he added.
He continued: “He never raised concern about what Lightwave was doing. There was one time that the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) was going to do some activity that Lightwave was already doing, and I remember, he (Mintah Akandoh) raised concerns that, if the Lightwave system is doing this, why is the NHIA going to do the same thing? Even that statement alone tells you he knew about the contract and knew about the other things that were around the ministry at the time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Akandoh has announced the rollout of a new platform, the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), a state-controlled digital platform that will now manage patient records, insurance verification, billing, and continuity of care across all public and mission health facilities.
GHIMS will become the sole authorised system for patient registration, clinical documentation, insurance verification, billing, and NHIA claims submission.
Health facilities have also been instructed to provide full and unconditional cooperation to deployment teams, granting them access to clinical, billing, ICT, and records areas for system activation.
The nationwide implementation of GHIMS is expected to commence in November 2025, marking a significant step toward ending private vendor control over national health data and ensuring greater transparency, security, and reliability in Ghana’s healthcare information systems.