BY : DARI KWABENA MATHEW (+233555395925)
Former President John Dramani has criticized the Akufo-Addo administration for not completing a single hospital under the Agenda 111 project years after the promise was made.
Mr Mahama indicated that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) must learn to take Ghanaians seriously and fulfil the promises they made to them.
In a tweet on Saturday January 14, the Presidential Candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 202 general election said “The ‘Agenda 111’ hospitals promise is in its 4th year, yet not a single hospital has been completed to support quality health care delivery.
“This is contrary to the lofty promise made in 2020. The NPP must learn to take Ghanaians serious. Enough of the slogans!”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday August 17, 2021 commissioned the Agenda 111 project which he said would ensure the construction of 111 hospitals across the country.
During the commission of the project in Trede in the Ashanti Region the President said among other things that the project would be providing 20,000 jobs for health professionals when completed.
He said the Ministry of Health was going to recruit more doctors, nurses and pharmacists when the project is done.
He also said that more indirect jobs were also going to be created by the project implementation.
The president further indicated that the Covid-19 pandemic exposed years of under investment in Ghana’s health sector.
To that end, he said his administration was improving on the investment in the health sector of the economy.
He said “I am glad that the biggest ever investment in the nation’s healthcare is being made .We have met this morning because of the ravages of Covid 19 which has affected every country on the planet . For us in Ghana not only has the pandemic disrupted our daily lives, but it has also exposed the deficiencies with our healthcare system because of the years of under investment and neglect
Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu has said during the event that the surest way for the government to improve on the healthcare delivery was to provide infrastructure.
To that end, he said the government was committed to providing the needed health infrastructure.
He said “As you know, a healthy people guarantee a healthy nation and government being mindful of this fact has proved to show to the people its commitment to improve the health status of all residents in the country.
“The surest way to improve healthcare sis through providing new infrastructure or improving just existing ones across the length and breadth of the country.”
Mr Agyeman-Manu further revealed that land litigations in Accra and Kumasi were affecting the project.
He however, said the government was working hard to ensure that these challenges were addressed to enable the project move on smoothly.
“It is too early for me to predict whether we will finish or not. But optimistically, that is what we want to do and we try to push ourselves.
“We still have challenges with even land especially in the big cities like Accra and Kumasi. We are now changing the infrastructural design so that instead spreading across bigger land area we want to go up. So they are doing designs.
“Even in the communities, in the districts, some chiefs are coming and there are litigations in some areas,” the Dormaa Central Member of Parliament said while taking delivery of some medical supplies from the Italian government on Thursday May 5.
