President John Dramani Mahama has criticised the previous Akufo-Addo administration over its handling of the Agenda 111 hospital projects, describing the decision to launch all 111 construction projects simultaneously as imprudent and poorly conceived.
The President made the remarks during a meeting with the Northern Regional House of Chiefs on Friday, May 15, shortly before leaving for Geneva for an international engagement.
He questioned the strategic logic behind rolling out all 111 hospital projects at once, insisting that a phased approach would have been both more effective and fiscally responsible.
“When the Agenda 111 hospitals… I don’t think it was a very prudent idea to start 111 hospitals at the same time. At least they should have been phased out,” he stated.
President Mahama further revealed that the execution of the programme had been deeply troubled, with some contractors collecting mobilisation funds and abandoning their sites entirely.
“With some of the projects, people took the mobilisation and never went to the site,” he disclosed, adding that his administration was actively pursuing such contractors to recover funds and enforce accountability.
“EOCO is going after them,” he assured the chiefs, signalling that legal and administrative action was already underway against defaulting contractors.
Notwithstanding his stinging critique of the programme’s management, President Mahama reaffirmed his administration’s determination to ensure that Ghanaians ultimately benefit from the initiative.
He disclosed that following a comprehensive review of the programme, the government would channel resources into completing 35 hospitals that are closest to finishing.
Additional funding, he added, would be set aside in the next national budget to advance another batch of facilities in subsequent phases.
The restructuring plan also includes a partnership with faith-based health institutions, which will be invited to adopt and complete some of the stalled facilities.
“We’re also inviting the faith-based organisations that run hospitals to adopt some of the hospitals that they think they can complete and bring into operation,” the President said.
The Agenda 111 initiative, conceived as a landmark healthcare infrastructure expansion drive, has been dogged by delays, stalled projects, and cost overrun concerns — challenges that have prompted the current administration’s shift towards phased delivery and strategic partnerships.
