Government has debunked claims by a section of Ghanaians that the Akufo-Addo administration has abandoned health projects of the erstwhile Mahama administration.
According to government, since assuming office in 2017, it has put in place measures to revive health projects, some of which date back to days of Kwame Nkrumah and will continue to do so until all health projects are fully completed and handed over for use.
Addressing journalists at the Information Minister’s Press Briefing in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said works on most health projects have resumed in earnest explaining that the reason why work stalled was as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Questions are being asked as to why some health projects have not been completed. Let me state that it looks like very soon, very quickly all of us Ghanaians are forgetting about the fact that the world was hit by a pandemic which disrupted our economic activities,” he said.
With the commencement of government’s Agenda 111, government has come under intense criticism from former President John Mahama and others over allegations that some health facilities are being abandoned and taking to a new health infrastructure project as a way of improving the country’s health infrastructure deficit.
However, responding to the claims, Mr. Agyeman-Menu described it as erroneous as government took stock of all projects and dully audited them and has engaged contractors to move to site.
Updates on completed projects
Providing updates on the supposed health facilities that have been abandoned, Director of Infrastructure Department at the Ministry of Health, Ben Ampomah Nkansah said a number of projects have been completed with others at various stages of completion.
He said the 300-bed capacity Bisease, Dawurampong, Biriwa, Estii Sunkwa, Binpong Egya, Gyamera Mankrong, Akonfude, Ekumfi, Naakwa and Gomoa Potsin polyclinic which started in January 2016 at a cost of €23.5M has been completed and commissioned for use in August 2018,
Additionally, he said major rehabilitation and upgrade of Tamale Teaching Hospitals Phase II which started in July 2015 at a cost of €38.5M has been completed handed over for use on 27th February 2019.
He said the 160-bed capacity Wa Regional Hospital and the 100-bed capacity Ga East Municipal Hospital (Kwabenya) project which started in November 2014 under the Euroget project have been commissioned for use as at August and November 2019 respectively.
Further, Mr. Nkansah said the 60-bed capacity Euroget Tepa District hospital project which started in November 2014 was completed and handed over for use by government in October 2020.
Health Minister Mr Agyeman-Manu disclosed that work on health projects such as the Kumawu, Fomena and Sekondi hospitals had commenced and was expected to be completed in due course.
“The previous government had a contracting agreement we call NMS that was supposed to do about six projects. The only single project that was completed under this arrangement was the Dodowa Hospital. When we came in, they were completing Kumawu, Fomena and Sekondi Floor work so we did an assessment with finance and what came out was the fact that monies left couldn’t complete the projects that had not been undertaken,” he said.
Mr Agyeman-Manu added that, “We needed to engage, value for money audits went through, brought a report and we engaged them and likely for us we are managing to get the contractors back to the site. We have now triggered the NMS that was even terminated before we joined and people are now working in Kumawu, people are now working in Fomena and soon these will come to completion.”
“So, I am beginning to wonder which projects we have abandoned. Even Bekwai has been completed and is in use as we speak.
“We have triggered the continuation of Eurojet projects that were started by President Kufuor, left abandoned, is not done now we have completed a significant portion of this project, Tepa is online, Nsorkor is online and Upper West Regional hospital is online,” he said.
He also noted that 12 projects, including the La and Shama hospital which the government cut sod last year for its commencement, had been delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 second wave.
He, however, disclosed in the next two weeks work on all the 12 projects would commence, following the completion of the necessary processes.
“The good news is that all that we have to do on these projects have now been completed and within the next two weeks, our government alone is mobilizing to 12 different sites. Shama and La, next week you will see work ongoing in these places,” he said.
Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, the Presidential Adviser on Health, assured of the government’s commitment to complete all 111 hospitals under the “Agenda 111” hospital project to facilitate the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.
