Oliver Barker-Vormawor, private legal practitioner, has warned the John Mahama government that the United States will not stop pushing the health compact rejected by Ghana.
According to Oliver Barker-Vormawor, knowing the US, they won’t stop pushing this deal or some other camouflaged version of it.
He argued that if the Mahama government does not sign it, the US will target the next government.
Barker-Vormawor further propose Ghana pass legislation that expressly forbids Ghana from sharing critical health data with foreign countries or companies.
In a post on X, Oliver Barker-Vormawor wrote, “I watched President @JDMahama’s comments about the US Health Sovereignty proposal with some stomach-churning annoyance.
Kudos to the Government for rejecting it. But if I know anything about the US, they won’t stop pushing this deal or some other camouflaged version of it.
If this Government doesn’t sign it, they will target the next. If one political party says no, they will wait for the next.
If this country-to-country deal doesn’t work, they will come back as a health solutions company offering services that some minister will single-handedly contract out under some sole sourcing arrangement. Or they will convince us that we need some US Government-controlled AI software that will revolutionalise
Health care solutions.
I would propose that we actually pass legislation that expressly forbids Ghana from sharing critical health data with foreign countries or companies. But one piece of legislation can be amended by the next.
I’m torn! Empire lays traps for us all around! Yet, our politicians cannot be trusted to hold the fort long term. How sad”.
His comment follows President John Dramani Mahama, who defended and explained Ghana’s decision to reject a proposed health compact from the United States.
Mahama described some of the US health deal conditions as humiliating and unacceptable.
According to John Mahama, the compact was presented as a replacement for health funding previously provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
He disclosed that the $100m US health compact was thrown out of Cabinet after a review by the Ministry of Health.
Mahama detailed that the Ministry of Health prepared a Cabinet Information Paper after examining the agreement and flagged several provisions.
He disclosed that the proposed compact required Ghana to provide the United States with its pathogen profile and medical records, which President Mahama said raised concerns about the country’s health data.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, President Mahama explained, “We received the Health Compact from the US to replace USAID funding, and Ghana is a sovereign nation, and we have our processes. We’re a democratic country, and so when the compact was received, the Health Ministry studied it and did what we call a cabinet information paper”.
“And so, the compact was brought to cabinet, and we flagged several things in the compact. One, it says that we shall give the United States our pathogen profile. It means what diseases are endemic in Ghana; what is the pathogen profile of a country,” Mahama added.
“They also say we should give our medical records. I mean, who takes another country’s medical records? And so that was strange,” he added.
“And then it also says we would have to put up a certain amount of money as part of the program into healthcare,” he said.
“And then it also says that any medications or any medical products that shall be brought into our country, our Food and Drugs Administration has absolutely no rights to inspect. I mean, it was humiliating and so it was the compact that was thrown out in record time in our cabinet,” he added.
“We asked the health minister to inform the US ambassador that we didn’t need it, we’ll manage ourselves, and for a pittance, a hundred and something million dollars, and so we said, no, we didn’t want it, and we’re doing fine,” he noted.
See the post below:
I watched President @JDMahama’s comments about the US Health Sovereignty proposal with some stomach churning annoyance.
— Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor (@barkervogues) September 29, 2026
Kudos to the Government for rejecting it. But if I know anything about the US; they won’t stop pushing this deal or some other camouflaged version of it.
If…
@ghnow_ Veteran Nollywood actor Pete Edochie has arrived in Ghana as he prepares for activities surrounding his Pete Edochie Legacy Project. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ Pete Edochie arrives in Ghana Today #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – Everything Music 🎶 ❤️
