In his address to members of the Christian Council at the presidency, President John Dramani Mahama shed light on the true state of the Agenda 111 hospitals, revealing that 1.7 billion US dollars is needed to complete the project.
According to the President, an assessment of the inherited project shockingly proved only one of the hospitals was brought to full completion by the previous administration.
This he explained has burdened the new government with about 110 hospitals that remain to be properly completed, equipped and commissioned for operation.
“The one that they said they commissioned, there’s nothing in it, just one hospital. They finished the structure but there’s not even a bed in the hospital”
President John Dramani Mahama
In advancing his opinion on the poor execution of the Agenda 111 hospitals, President Mahama recalled the brilliance in a strategy by his earlier government.
The plan was to not build hospitals where the churches and missions already had one, but “rather use the resources to improve the mission hospitals so that they provide service.”
He explained that the money the government otherwise uses to “compete” with such mission hospitals by building its own, could be used to upgrade the mission hospitals to adequately cater to healthcare needs of the communities they serve.
This collaboration, in not only upgrading existing hospitals but running them alongside the missions, would enable the government to save money for necessary projects only, like providing hospitals for those communities that have none at all, mission or otherwise.
Unfortunately, the failure of the outgone government to adopt a similar strategy led to the duplication of hospitals in some communities and the depletion of funds and resources that could have been used to advance the Agenda 111 hospitals past its current state.
“Government has gone to start a hospital and has not been able to finish it, and they are sitting there” he expressed, adding “some are at foundation level, some are at lintel level, and so many of them, almost 90 hospitals”
“We need 1,700,000,000 to be able to complete the hospitals” he declared.
The Agenda 111 Hospitals
The Agenda 111 hospitals were begun by former President Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo to combat employment challenges facing nurses in the country.
The project was also supposed to double as a facilitator of quality healthcare service for all Ghanaians across the country.
Featuring a blend of regional psychiatric hospitals, regional hospitals, district hospitals and an Accra psychiatric hospital, it was poised to masterfully transform the country’s healthcare system.
However, despite having begun in 2021 and scheduled for completion in 18 months, the Nana Addo led government bequeathed a stalled project to the Mahama led administration in 2025.
Current reports suggesting that only one of the 111 hospitals is complete and barely so, is contrary to the claims that were made by the NPP during the 2024 campaign and has the public in awe.
President John Dramani Mahama informed the Christian Council that plans to move things forwards were already underway following discussions with the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and his newly formed cabinet.
He however called on interested missions to come aboard to ensure that together with his government, as many of these hospitals could be finished and commissioned for use, providing much needed health services to the people.
He emphasized that the missions which intervene could finish and run some of the hospitals themselves if they so desire, with support from the government.
A Commitment to Something Bigger
The determination of the new government to complete all the Agenda 111 hospitals not only highlights President Mahama’s commitment to national progress and development but underpins his grit in changing the narrative of politically abandoned projects in Ghana.
He has made it clear on several occasions, his mission to effectively obliterate the culture of new governments disregarding national projects started by outgoing ones.
President Mahama hopes to do away with this wasteful practice that has characterized government transitions. It is his goal to usher the country into a new age of continuous development irrespective of which government takes office.
As such, the Agenda 111 hospitals isn’t the only transitional project on his radar. His plans to complete the Anomabo Fisheries college project which began in 2011 under Late President Atta-Mills and a planned improvement of the Free Senior High School program fall into scope.
The aftermath of the President’s meeting with the Christian Council remains to be seen. Will the Christian Council and the missions heed the President’s call to action?
In light of his commitment to not abandon any projects from the past, what will President Mahama do about the infamous National Cathedral project too?
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