Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, is scheduled to appear at the Government Accountability Series this morning at 11 a.m. to provide a detailed account of the controversial Lightwave Health Information System (LHIMS) contract and address related issues arising from its implementation.
The Minister is expected to scrutinize the terms of a contract signed in March 2019, valued at USD 100 million, which mandated Lightwave eHealth Solutions to deploy a comprehensive health information management system across 950 health facilities nationwide.
Despite over 70% of the contract sum—amounting to $77 million—being paid, the system was reportedly deployed in only 450 facilities before the two-year extension period lapsed in December 2024, raising serious concerns over value for money and performance.
According to the Ministry, the vendor responsible for the LHIMS contract allegedly refused to adhere to crucial milestones, specifically the handover of essential data and system components to the Health Ministry.
Further compounding the issue, the Minister reported that the vendor resorted to alleged blackmail tactics, intermittently switching off the system entirely, which led to significant disruptions in the delivery of essential health services across the covered facilities.
In direct response to the recent instability and failures within the LHIMS infrastructure, the Ministry has confirmed the development and imminent rollout of a new, more robust platform named THE GHANA HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (GHIMS), which is scheduled to commence deployment next week.
Furthermore, the Minister announced that all findings related to the forensic audit of the failed LHIMS system have been officially referred to the Attorney-General for necessary legal action.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
