Corruption in the Sky

NDC Firebrand Blasts Zipline as Overpriced Fraud

By Nelson Ayivor

Wonder Madilo, prominent voice in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team, has launched a fierce attack on the controversial Zipline contract, fuelling fresh political fire over Ghana’s medical drone delivery system.

Backing the call by Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga to scrap the contract, Madilo branded it a “cosmetic approach” that masks deep-rooted corruption and mismanagement in the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

The NDC insider slammed the former NPP administration for opting to procure drones in 2018 instead of fixing Ghana’s ailing drug logistics infrastructure. “You bought drones as a quick fix for an emergency, but never addressed the long-term issues like building warehouses and improving distribution,” he said.

Madilo admonished that even after six years, the government continues to rely on Zipline drones, a glaring sign of failure to implement sustainable solutions. “When they left office in 2024, the drones were still doing the work the system should have done.”

He insisted that the Zipline service offers only superficial relief while the real fix lies in empowering district health offices with their own infrastructure. “Each district needs a health directorate and mini warehouses to stock drugs and distribute reliably without depending on expensive drones,” the NDC spokesperson argued.

Madilo confidently asserted that GHS can run its own procurement and drone operations more efficiently than the current overpriced contract.

Turning up the heat, he exposed the contract’s governance flaws, calling it “wrapped in secrecy” and riddled with “deals, corruption, and mismanagement” that have hampered drug stock management at GHS.

He linked the persistent drug shortages not to drones but to systemic failures, accusing the health sector of chronic inefficiencies and poor oversight that no drone system can fix. “Drones don’t manufacture drugs,” he quipped.

Madilo’s fiery critique champions the NDC’s demand for a transparent, accountable, and homegrown method to ensure consistent medicine supply to Ghana’s remotest areas a system that can finally end the costly reliance on Zipline’s scandal-shadowed contract.