The Ministry of Health has launched the Ghana Health Information Management System to replace the failed Lightwave platform following underperformance, data security breaches, and discovery of health records hosted on foreign servers.
Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, October 29, said the decision marks a decisive shift toward restoring integrity, transparency, and sovereignty in Ghana’s health data ecosystem.
“Ghanaians will never go back to the manual way. We are moving forward responsibly, confidently, and decisively,” Akandoh declared.
The minister revealed that the Lightwave Health Information Management System (LHIMS) contract, worth 100 million dollars, was signed in 2019 with Lightwave Company Limited to connect 950 health facilities nationwide through a centralized electronic records system. The project, expected to be completed in three years, was extended twice, first to 2023 and later to December 31, 2024, due to repeated implementation delays.
Yet only 450 facilities were connected by the end of the contract period. Out of the 950 facilities, only 450 had been connected, he said, noting that a contract meant for three years, extended to five, but with only half the work delivered clearly shows underperformance.
Despite the poor output, the minister revealed that over 77 million dollars, representing more than 70 percent of the total amount, had already been paid to the vendor. A forensic audit revealed further irregularities in the supply of hardware components, including inferior laptop brands, shortfalls in the number of computers supplied, and a hardware deficit of at least 18 million dollars.
If the contract stated that HP laptops should be supplied, cheaper brands were delivered. If it said 100 computers, fewer were supplied, Akandoh disclosed. The hardware supply gap alone was not less than 18 million dollars.
Perhaps most alarming, the minister said, was the discovery that Ghana’s health data was being hosted on servers in India, leaving the nation’s electronic medical records under foreign control. It is unconscionable for any company to have access to the electronic medical records of Ghanaians without the state having control, he stressed.
The ministry has since referred the matter to the Attorney General’s Department and national security agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution. The collapse of the LHIMS system in recent months has led to severe disruptions in hospital operations across the country. Many health facilities have been forced to temporarily revert to manual record keeping, while the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has reported service downtimes affecting patient verification and claims processing.
To restore stability and ensure operational continuity, the Ministry has launched the Ghana Health Information Management System (GHIMS), a new, locally managed digital platform designed to centralize, secure, and streamline national health data. Akandoh emphasized that the new system will be fully owned and controlled by the state, ensuring data sovereignty and protection of patient information.
The Minister assured health professionals and patients that the transition to GHIMS will be seamless and secure, pledging the government’s commitment to build a sustainable, transparent, and Ghana owned health data infrastructure.
