“Agenda 111 must be continued” – Akufo-Addo tells Mahama

By
Makay
-
0
6
Former President Akufo-Addo

Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told the NDC-led John Mahama government that the stalled Agenda 111 hospitals must be completed.

According to Akufo-Addo, the completion and operationalisation of the stalled Agenda 111 hospitals will boost Ghana’s healthcare.  

Akufo-Addo made this known while speaking over the weekend at the launch of the Kyebi Government Hospital’s centenary celebrations.

The event was organised by the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional State and the Kyebi Government Hospital.

Akufo-Addo stated, “We must also be honest, not every project was realised, not every project was completed. At some facilities, we reached advanced stages that could not be finished before our term ended.

Agenda 111 must be continued. Continuity, not disruption, is how health systems succeed,” he said.

It will be recalled that Agenda 111 was a flagship under the former Akufo-Addo government, which was designed to construct 111 hospitals nationwide to bridge gaps in access to medical care.

In related news, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Deputy Finance Minister, has disclosed that 35 contractors under the Agenda 111 initiative received US$7.9 million in mobilisation funds, but they failed to deliver work equal to the payments.

According to Thomas Nyarko Ampem, an Auditor-General on Arrears and Payables, as at the end of 2024, uncovered significant irregularities under the Agenda 111 project.

The Deputy Minister disclosed that the audit findings showed that some contractors who took the US$7.9 million did not mobilise to their respective sites, and others also failed to deliver work.

Speaking on the floor of parliament while presenting the Report of the Auditor-General on Arrears and Payables as at the end of 2024 in Parliament on Tuesday, March 10, Mr Nyarko Ampem stated, “Mr Speaker, the audit of Agenda 111 projects also revealed that a total amount of US$7.9 million was paid to 35 contractors as advance mobilisation under the programme, but these contractors have either failed to mobilise to the site or the work done is not commensurate with the amount paid”.

“The advance mobilisation guarantees secured by the 35 contractors who received the US$7.9 million have all expired. The Auditor General has subsequently issued notices of surcharge to the offending contractors,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, a Democracy and Development Fellow in Health at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has said Ghana’s Health crisis is a systems and people’s problem, not a bed problem.

He argued that Ghana’s Health crisis goes beyond ‘no-bed syndrome adding that the system is fundamentally broken.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on 24 February 2026, Dr Sarpong explained, “The problem is not a bed problem. It’s a systems and people’s problem. We’ve diagnosed the issues, but we’ve refused to intervene.

“The Health Harmonisation Assessment Report was a diagnosis of the health of our health system. When the diagnosis told us our health system was very, very sick, we did nothing about it,” he said.

Dr Sarpong added, “We needed retooling of our health system since 2014, but we haven’t done it. That’s a fact of our health system, and it’s why we’re still in crisis today”.

“It’s not just about where the beds are. It’s about the resources and the right medical expertise at each facility. If a hospital has a bed but lacks the proper expertise or equipment, sending a patient there is as dangerous as not having a bed at all,” he explained.

Watch the video below: