Agenda 111: Only 23 of 111 facilities are not under construction – Oppong Nkrumah

The Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has stated that 88 of the 111 health facilities under the Agenda 111 projects are under construction.

Oppong Nkrumah, however, indicated that the contracts of three companies have been terminated because they failed to meet key performance indicators (KPIs).

The contractors were working on the projects sited at Kunsu in the Ahafo Ano South-West District, Manso Adubia in the Amansie South District, Nsuta in the Sekyere Central District of the Ashanti Region.

“The brief I have is that 88 are currently under construction and it is grouped into eight zones and in those eight zones, you will find 54 projects. We have visited 33 sites so far and we thought that coming to Trede, where it all began, it is important to showcase from Trede all that has gone on so far.

“We have also provided you with the reports of the sites that we have visited so far, the majority of them that are doing well, the few of them that are behind schedule.

"We have also updated you on the ones that we have had to terminate because they are behind schedule,” the minister is quoted to have said at a press briefing in Trede, Ashanti region.

About Agenda 111:

This is a project by government to provide more facilities to bridge the current burden on some health facilities across the country. The programme involves the construction of hospitals in districts where there are none, including the establishment of two psychiatric hospitals for the middle and the southern belts, seven regional hospitals and the rehabilitation of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.

In August 2021, the government announced that it had secured a US$100-million start-up fund through the Ghana Investment Infrastructure Fund (GIIF) for the commencement of work on the projects.

The Agenda 111 project includes the construction of 101 district hospitals, six regional hospitals in the newly created regions, two specialized hospitals as well as a regional hospital in the Western Region and the renovation of the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.

It can be recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the beginning of his second term as president, promised that all the projects under Agenda 111 will be completed in 18 months.

However, speaking at the 2022 State of the Nation Address, the president admitted that the initial plan by his government to construct a total of 111 health facilities across the country was overly ambitious.

He explained that the construction of the projects has been faced with unforeseen challenges that slowed the process of getting the projects underway.

President Akufo-Addo however said that the hurdles on most of those sites have been resolved and work has so far begun on 87 of those hospital projects across the country. He also added that all the projects will be completed before he leaves office.

IB/OGB