The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed that none of the hospitals under the Agenda 111 initiative is currently operational.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, the Minister said this situation prompted President John Mahama to call for a full audit into the projects.
“None of the Agenda 111 hospitals is operational as we speak, which is why President Mahama has directed that an audit be conducted to understand the true status of the project,” Mr. Akandoh stated.
He criticised the previous Akufo-Addo administration for poor planning and implementation of the initiative.
“We all know how Agenda 111 started. The way the project was handled wasn’t the best. Even if you intend to build 111 hospitals, you could stagger the project and complete them in phases,” he said.
According to the Minister, the former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had promised to hand over completed hospitals to Ghanaians before leaving office.
However, Mr. Akandoh noted, unfortunately, not a single one of them is in operation.
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He added that the Agenda 111 project now falls under the Ministry of Health’s purview, and efforts are being made to assess its feasibility and sustainability.
He also cited budget inconsistencies, saying, “The estimated cost for the entire project was between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion. But by the time they left office, they had already sunk close to $400 million into it.”
“The interesting part is, if they had staggered the project as they should have, by now we could have completed more than 20 hospitals with that amount. But that wasn’t the case,” he lamented.
Referring to former President Akufo-Addo’s last State of the Nation Address, Mr. Akandoh said, “He mentioned that they had completed three hospitals and even commissioned some on December 5. But when President Mahama gave his first State of the Nation Address and referenced it, I went to verify, and unfortunately, none of those hospitals was operational.”
The Health Minister revealed that President Mahama as part of the audit has requested for a comprehensive blueprint.
“President Mahama has directed us to audit the Agenda 111 project and present him with a clear blueprint for the way forward, and we’ve been given timelines,” he said.
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