Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga has called for the cancellation of the Ghana Health Service’s (GHS) contract with Zipline Ghana, describing the deal as an unnecessary financial burden on the state. According to him, the government cannot continue spending GH¢170 million annually on drone delivery of medicines and blood to remote communities.

Addressing Parliament on Friday, November 28, 2025, Ayariga said the Ministry of Health should have long invested in its own drones to build internal capacity rather than relying on a private provider.

“You cannot continue spending that kind of money on a service provider. It is a total waste of money,” he emphasised.

Minority Raises Concerns Over Shutdown of Zipline Centres

The comments followed concerns raised by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who revealed that the government had cancelled the Zipline contract earlier in the week. Zipline Ghana subsequently shut down three of its operational centres due to over GH¢170 million in unpaid claims.

Afenyo-Markin warned that the shutdown would severely affect rural communities, where Zipline drones have been critical in delivering emergency medical supplies.

“Those in the rural areas will suffer the most, not those of us in the cities,” he stressed, urging the Minister of Health to outline steps being taken to address the gap.

A Drain on National Resources — Ayariga

Ayariga argued that since the contract was signed in 2021, it had consistently drained state resources. He questioned the economic sense in spending hundreds of millions annually to deliver medical supplies by drone when most communities are accessible by road.

“Can you imagine every year we are spending GH¢170 million so that they will go and drop blood in some village and then come back?” he asked.

The Bawku Central MP noted that the funds used on the contract could have been redirected to improve road networks and acquire more affordable drones for the GHS.

GHS Could Have Purchased Its Own Drones

Ayariga emphasized that drones are not prohibitively expensive, stating that many models cost between $4,000 and $20,000.

“By now, we would have had drones for every district in this country managed by the Ghana Health Service,” he argued.

He called for a comprehensive audit of how much Ghana has spent on the Zipline deal, suggesting that the total could have financed a national in-house drone delivery system.