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Health Minister Accuses LHIMS Contractors of Blackmail, Unveils New Digital System
The Ministry of Health has rolled out a new nationwide digital platform—the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS)—to replace the troubled Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS), following what officials describe as systemic failure, underperformance, and major data security breaches.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, said the decision marks a decisive shift toward “restoring integrity, transparency, and sovereignty” in Ghana’s health data ecosystem.
“Ghanaians will never go back to the manual way. We are moving forward responsibly, confidently, and decisively,” the minister declared.
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Mr Akandoh revealed that the LHIMS contract, worth $100 million, was signed in 2019 with Lightwave Company Limited to connect 950 health facilities nationwide through a centralised electronic records system.
The project, expected to be completed in three years, was extended twice — first to 2023 and later to December 31, 2024 — due to repeated implementation delays. Yet, only 450 facilities were connected by the end of the contract period.
“Out of the 950 facilities, only 450 had been connected. You would all agree that a contract meant for three years, extended to five, but with only half the work delivered, clearly shows underperformance,” he said.
Despite the poor output, the minister revealed that over $77 million, representing more than 70% of the total amount, had already been paid to the vendor.
A forensic audit, according to Mr Akandoh, revealed further irregularities in the supply of hardware components. These included inferior laptop brands, shortfalls in the number of computers supplied, and a hardware deficit of at least $18 million.
“If the contract stated that HP laptops should be supplied, cheaper brands were delivered. If it said 100 computers, fewer were supplied. The hardware supply gap alone was not less than $18 million,” the minister disclosed.
Perhaps most alarming, the minister said, was the discovery that Ghana’s health data was being hosted on servers in India, leaving the nation’s electronic medical records under foreign control.
“It is unconscionable for any company to have access to the electronic medical records of Ghanaians without the state having control,” he stressed. “With the cloud infrastructure built somewhere in India, we had to act.”
The ministry has since referred the matter to the Attorney-General’s Department and national security agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The collapse of the LHIMS system in recent months has led to severe disruptions in hospital operations across the country. Many health facilities have been forced to temporarily revert to manual record-keeping, while the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reported service downtimes affecting patient verification and claims processing.
To restore stability and ensure operational continuity, the Ministry has launched the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS) — a new, locally managed digital platform designed to centralise, secure, and streamline national health data.
Mr Akandoh emphasised that the new system will be fully owned and controlled by the state, ensuring data sovereignty and protection of patient information.
“As a ministry, our concern was to find a solution to this mess. Even though we didn’t have any contract with the vendor at the time, we indicated readiness to sign a maintenance agreement. But the software itself was not owned by the state — that is why it was called the Lightwave Health Information Management System. We are now taking full control,” he explained.
The Minister assured health professionals and patients that the transition to GHIMS will be seamless and secure, pledging the government’s commitment to build a sustainable, transparent, and Ghana-owned health data infrastructure.
“This is not just a technological change; it’s a matter of national pride and sovereignty,” he concluded.
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