Government has spent over $312m on Agenda 111; it is real – Okoe-Boye chides naysayers

The Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, has provided an update on the status of the Ghana Priority Health Infrastructure Project, popularly known as Agenda 111.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, the minister refuted assertions that the project was fictional and that no work was being done.

He said that so far, work at 96 of the 104 health facilities under the project is ongoing, with many of them more than 80 percent complete.

“The project is supposed to build 104 district hospitals, seven regional hospitals, two zonal psychiatric hospitals — one for the northern belt and one for the middle belt — and one new national psychiatric hospital in Accra. Now, as we speak, out of these numbers, the 104 plus seven plus two plus one, we have 96 active sites, meaning where you actually have work going on as we speak.

“We have 94 sites for the district hospitals and two sites for the psychiatric hospitals... I'm happy to share with you some information. So, out of these 96 sites, the projects have been categorised into three categories,” he explained.

The health minister also disclosed that so far, the government has spent more than $312 million on the 96 Agenda 111 projects that are ongoing.

“Category A are sites that are 70% completed and above, Category B are sites between 50% and 70%, and Category C are those below 50%. Now, Category A, the contract sum for Category A sites is $247.4 million, payments made as of July 17 of this year, $100.874 million... in total for both categories. As of the date I got this some six weeks ago, this government has paid $312,134,789.

“All I want you to pick is that, that Agenda 111 thing is real, it is real in terms of government expenditure and payments, and real in terms of physical duties,” he stated.

BAI/AE

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