Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIM), developers of Ghana’s national medical information platform, has denied allegations that it has deliberately disconnected health facilities from its network, stressing that each hospital remains autonomous and fully operational.
The company’s response follows comments by the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, during his presentation at the Government’s Accountability Series, where he accused Lightwave of incapacitating healthcare delivery by denying the state access to critical data systems.
According to the Minister, despite the expiration of the company’s contract, Lightwave has refused to hand over administrative access to physical servers and storage systems at 450 verified facilities, contrary to contract clauses 2(b) and 3.
“The Supplier has also refused to grant access to the healthcare data of Ghanaians stored on these systems. This data is the property of the Republic of Ghana and its citizens and can never lawfully be the property of a private vendor,” Kwabena Mintah Akandoh said.
Mr. Akandoh further claimed that no dataset transfers, administrative access to storage, or handover of records were provided during the five-year period, despite full milestone payments.
“The continued custody of Ghanaians’ healthcare data by a private entity without lawful access by the Government poses serious risks to national sovereignty; accordingly, the national security agencies have been formally notified and are engaged,” he said.
Lightwave Dismisses Shutdown Allegation
In a sharp rebuttal, Lightwave described the Minister’s assertions as inaccurate and misleading, stating that the system architecture was designed for autonomy and data security, not central dependency.
“Every facility is autonomous and has its own server with patient data stored locally and only backed up remotely to the Ministry of Health,” Lightwave said in its statement
The company rejected claims that “Ghana’s health data sits in India,” clarifying that a centralised data repository already exists within the Ministry of Health’s own server room.
“A centralised data repository sits at the Ministry’s server room. These servers were previously hosted at the NHIA data centre until the Ministry built its new offices.”
Connectivity, Not Shutdown
Lightwave attributed recent interruptions to connectivity challenges caused by local facility managers, who it said had restricted remote access for maintenance support.
“Nobody shuts down any system. Recently, facility managers have disconnected connectivity to their facilities to prevent Lightwave staff from accessing and providing support. These disconnections trigger a logout until connectivity is restored,” Lightwave said.
The company added that any service disruptions related to unpaid integrations were unrelated to deliberate shutdowns.
“The recent disconnection to integrated services that are outstanding and unpaid has nothing to do with shutdowns being perpetuated. Lightwave staff can only assist and support facilities when they are allowed access.”
Equipment Supply and Contractual Performance
Addressing claims of equipment shortfalls, Lightwave maintained that all supplies met or exceeded contract specifications saying “the contract states HP or equivalent in specifications; Lightwave has supplied trusted brands, most of which are above what is stated in the contract.”
It attributed implementation delays to COVID-19-related disruptions and global shortages of electronic components, adding that the Ministry’s delayed provision of milestone facility lists in some cases by up to five months further slowed progress.
The company also outlined several successful integrations with BDR, NIA, NHIA (ClaimIT, VBCs, CCC), Banking systems, Analyzer Integration and GILMIS and training programs conducted for Regional IT and Health Information Officers (HIOs) across the Northern (Tamale) and Southern (Kumasi) zones, as well as CHAG facilities in the Bono Region.
LHIM Says Minister Unavailable for Briefings
Lightwave expressed frustration over its inability to secure meetings with the Health Minister since he assumed office.
“Since the Minister took office, we have on several occasions tried to have audience to update him on the status of the project, all to no avail,”
The company reaffirmed its commitment to Ghana’s healthcare digitisation agenda, urging greater collaboration and communication between the Ministry and technology partners to safeguard progress in the health information system.
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