Zipline Ghana Refutes Claims of Misusing Drone Deliveries
The Country Manager of Zipline Ghana, Mr. Daniel Kwaku Merki, has denied allegations that the company’s drone delivery service is being misused to transport non-essential items, including condoms and textbooks.
His statement follows remarks by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh during the Government Accountability Series, suggesting that the multi-million-dollar drone program may have strayed from its primary purpose: delivering emergency, life-saving medical supplies to hard-to-reach communities.
Mr. Merki, however, stressed that such non-medical deliveries are “extremely rare.” According to him, only one in 20,000 flights involves items like condoms, and even then, these requests come from agencies under the Ministry of Health, not Zipline itself.
“Critical life-saving commodities we have delivered have saved tens of thousands of lives. Our focus is on emergencies, following a strict list of products mandated by the Ministry of Health,” he said, emphasizing that Zipline operates strictly under instructions from authorized health agencies.
He added, “Supply continuously comes from the agencies under the Ministry of Health. We work closely with them to ensure the most critical deliveries are prioritized. If you want detailed answers on these decisions, the Ministry is the right point of contact, not Zipline.”
Addressing questions about whether condoms were part of Zipline’s approved delivery items, Mr. Merki clarified that such items were never sent as standalone packages. “These condoms were included alongside other essential medical commodities, not delivered independently,” he explained.
Mr. Merki’s remarks comes amid heightened public scrutiny of Ghana’s drone delivery program, which has been praised for providing timely medical support to remote areas. While minor non-medical items have occasionally been transported,
Zipline maintains that these instances are negligible compared to the thousands of life-saving deliveries made each year. The company reiterated that its primary mission remains unchanged: ensuring timely delivery of critical medical supplies to communities where access to healthcare is limited.
