Lightwave E-Healthcare rejects health minister’s claims of overpayment and service disruption

Lightwave E-Healthcare Solutions Limited, the company behind Ghana’s National E-Healthcare Programme and the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS), has rejected claims by the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, that it was overpaid for its work and deliberately disrupted healthcare services to frustrate the government.

The company described the Minister’s comments as “misleading and unfounded,” insisting that it has fully met its contractual obligations and that all hospitals using the system continue to function efficiently.

In an interview with Kojo Yankson, Senior Project Manager at Lightwave E-Healthcare, Eric Agyei said the company had not been informed of any official audit of its operations despite reports that the Ministry had sent people to health facilities under the guise of Lightwave representatives.

“We got several calls that people had come to their facilities claiming to representing as Lightwave. I told them we hadn’t sent anybody because if we have to go to any facility to do work, there are protocols that we follow.

“These people were turned away because they were not known to us. If they parade as Lightwave staff, then it is like people are trying to impersonate our team to gain access.”

Mr Agyei dismissed the Minister’s suggestion that the company had cut access to the digital system to blackmail the government, explaining that the disruptions were due to unpaid invoices and not any act of sabotage.

“We prepared and shared the invoice, and it was as if you had hit the tail of an elephant. We sent the invoice, and there was no feedback not even an acknowledgment,” he explained.

“So we thought if these integrations are not part of the process, then we would take them down. But as we speak, facilities that maintain connectivity are working. We have about 113 child facilities and 98 government hospitals still operating on the system.”

He further clarified that Lightwave does not control or own the health data generated through its system, countering claims that the company was withholding critical patient information from the government.

“If your media team goes to any hospital using the Lightwave system and asks for medical records, they will be able to retrieve them. They do it every time,” he said.

“So I don’t know which data the Minister refers to. If it is about the source code, which came up in the meeting we had on September 3rd, that is Lightwave’s intellectual property. It does not belong to the Ministry or the Government of Ghana. The data collected by the system belongs to the Ministry and the Government.”

Mr Agyei said the company’s contract did not include giving the Ministry access to the system’s backend or source code.

“If you are talking about the backend and you come and say you want the source code, that means if you push Lightwave out, you could deploy the system in other facilities. But that is not part of the agreement we signed with the Ministry.”

Lightwave E-Healthcare maintained that it remains committed to digitising Ghana’s healthcare system and improving record-keeping across the country’s hospitals. The company urged the Ministry to engage directly with them to resolve any concerns instead of making public accusations that could undermine confidence in the national e-health project.

“Our work is transparent, and the system is functioning,” Mr Agyei stressed. “We have not been overpaid — in fact, we are still waiting for payment for services already delivered.”

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