According to Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, both he and his Health Minister, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal were more focused on the treatment of Covid to be offered to patients rather than the methods of procurement of 999,000 units of the generic Molnupiravir at a cost of Rs 80 million. The Prime Minister revealed that he was the first to be alerted about the affairs raised by Opposition Leader, Xavier Luc Duval in Parliament. The PM was in front of the press on Monday, December 13 for the inauguration of the Dowlut Bridge in Phoenix.
PM “We will never Cover up!
“There are things in this case that even we were not aware of. I, myself, have seen that this case needs to be clarified as I have learned about the background of this procurement in parliament and when the case was already public. My first action was to order a freeze on the payment. I then asked ICAC to open an investigation into the case. The investigation will determine the person or persons responsible who went against the regulations. The person or persons responsible will have to face the consequences. We will not tolerate any underhand dealings. We have never done a cover up and we will never do a cover up! We are proceeding in transparency,” the PM said.
PM: “Dr Jagutpal is not involved in the procurement”
This question will be answered in the very near future as in the end, three investigations have been initiated by the ICAC, the Central CID and the Ministry of Finance on this Emergency Procurement, the officials and CPN Distributors. However, according to the Prime Minister, his Minister of Health cannot be considered as a Person of Interest in this matter. “We are on the same wavelength, we agree that this procurement must be investigated. The Minister is certainly aware of everything that goes on in his ministry but Dr Jagutpal is not involved in the procurement. He does not know in what way this procurement was done. He answered the questions of the members of the House based on the information provided to him by his officers,” he told the press. So, at this stage and until the end of the investigations, the question of the resignation of the Minister of Health will not be considered, he said, “we need to have confirmation that he was involved in something ‘not right’. I leave that investigation to ICAC. ICAC’s findings will determine what happens next.”
Valayden: “Dr Jagutpal must resign by this Friday”
Since Friday, members of the opposition and those in opposition from the ruling party have been calling for the resignation of the health minister following the unveiling of the Rs 80 million scandal. The latest was made this morning at the Line Barracks by Me Rama Valayden. He explained, “I went to the barracks today to hand over to the police documents and precise information, namely the names of the people involved in the transaction of the purchase of Molnupiravir, among others.” He revealed that he was in possession of photos of those involved, which were given to him by his sources at the ministry on the course of this transaction which took place on 6 and 7 December last at the Emmanuel Anquetil building, and that he had asked the police to get hold of the CCTV images of the building. In addition, he said that he had given information to the CCID about anti-Covid vaccines that had been secretly put aside. Thus, denouncing mismanagement at the Ministry of Health, Rama Valayden demanded “Dr Jagutpal must resign by this Friday“. He even made a request to the public to pressurise the government for the fulfilment of this claim shared by the opposition.
