The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Caucus in Parliament has strongly rejected government’s assertion that an additional US$85 million is required to complete the long-delayed Afari Military Hospital project, describing the claim as a “fabricated crisis” and a potential attempt to siphon public funds.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, June 16, Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee and Member of Parliament for Atwima Kwanwoma, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, challenged recent statements by Deputy Defence Minister Ernest Brogya Gyemfi, insisting the facts surrounding the project had been deliberately distorted.
The controversy stems from comments by the Deputy Defence Minister last week, in which he stated that the contractor was demanding US$85 million in outstanding claims before returning to site and that the overall project stood at about 60 per cent completion.
However, Mr Manu dismissed those figures as inaccurate.
“The truth and nothing but the truth must be told,” he said.
According to him, official records from the Ministry of Defence’s Project Implementation Unit indicate that the 500-bed hospital project was already 92.5 per cent complete by September 2024 and had reached 98 per cent completion by January 2025 under the previous NPP administration.
He further broke down the progress achieved, stating that civil works on the core hospital stood at 97.5 per cent, architectural works at 87 per cent, while roads, landscaping and support facilities had all recorded substantial progress.
Mr Manu also disputed the alleged US$85 million debt owed to the contractor, insisting there was no documentation at either the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Finance to support such a figure.
He explained that the original US$180 million loan facility for the project had been fully paid, while an additional US$19.3 million negotiated settlement for delays had also been settled.
He further disclosed that out of a subsequent US$3 million claim, negotiated down from more than US$6.5 million, government had already paid US$2.5 million, leaving only US$500,000 outstanding.
“To jump from an outstanding balance of US$500,000 to a sudden demand for US$85 million is not just mathematically absurd; it is criminal,” he asserted.
The former Deputy Defence Minister also accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of contributing significantly to historical delays associated with the project.
Tracing its origins, he said the project was initially awarded in 2008 under former President John Agyekum Kufuor for construction at Sofoline in Kumasi, but suffered years of setbacks after successive relocations under the then NDC administration before eventually settling at Afari.
He argued that those changes resulted in a six-year delay and generated additional costs running into millions of dollars.
According to him, the project was only 40 per cent complete when the NDC left office in 2016, adding that the subsequent NPP administration advanced it from 40 per cent to 98 per cent completion by January 2025.
The Afari Military Hospital, valued at US$180 million, was originally scheduled for completion within 42 months after construction commenced in 2014 but remains uncompleted 12 years later. The project has become the subject of intense political debate in recent weeks amid concerns about delays, deteriorating equipment and mounting pressure on healthcare facilities in the Ashanti Region.
Mr Manu warned that the Minority would fiercely oppose any attempt to approve what he described as an unjustified payment.
“We all want the Afari Military Hospital completed and operationalised to serve the health needs of the Ghana Armed Forces and the people of Ashanti Region and beyond. However, this must not become a conduit for daylight robbery,” he said.
Invoking the popular Ghanaian political phrase “create, loot and share”, he alleged that any move to approve the US$85 million claim through unofficial channels would amount to a misuse of public funds.
The Minority is therefore demanding that government immediately abandon the alleged US$85 million payment proposal, settle the outstanding US$500,000 balance and ensure the contractor completes the remaining works without further delay.
By: Christian Kpesese
