The Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, has declared that all district hospitals funded under Agenda 111 projects will be completely operationalized. He claimed that the Akufo-Addo administration is working quickly in the meantime to make sure that some of them are operational by year’s end. In a previous statement, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye attributed the delay in finishing the Agenda 111 project to difficulties obtaining land in urban areas and the incapacity of local contractors.
Recall that President Akufo-Addo turned the sod in the Ashanti Region in August 2021 to officially kick off the hospital development. At the time, he stated that the project was expected to be finished nationwide in 18 months. Nevertheless, with only a few months remaining until 2024 ends, the projects are still unfinished. According to Dr. Okoe-Boye, certain local contractors involved in the Agenda 111 project had to be replaced due to nonperformance. These contractors attributed their delays in completion to difficulties obtaining land in urban areas and their incapacity.
Dr. Okoe-Boye clarified that because the initiative was locally funded, the government chose to work only with native contractors on this project. However, he added, it became apparent throughout the project that some of the contractors lacked the necessary skills to complete the building, which is why it was decided to replace them. When Dr. Okoe-Boye testified before the Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances on Thursday, August 1, he said these things in order to justify the revision of the project’s completion timeline.