Stop cooking political angst against Agenda 111 – Government

The government has asked those who are deliberately expressing political anguish over its much-vaunted, baseless Agenda 111 hospital project to refrain from such acts.

Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that although the government has taken note of the real issues of various actors including health CSOs, the media and the general public regarding the risk factors that should be taken into account for the agenda to succeed and benefit everyone, people who do so with parochial partisan interests rather jeopardize the construction of hospitals.

“We have noticed that deliberate allegations of politically motivated irregularities are being made against the Agenda 111 project.

“This includes a claim by the MP for North Dayi that the projects were awarded illegally and contract prices were inflated. Another is the claim that 600 million cedis have already been spent while no work has been done, ”he told reporters at a press briefing in Accra on Sunday.

Ofoase MP Ayirebi said: “The government assures the public that all contracts associated with the project have been legally awarded in accordance with the approvals of the Public Procurement Authority.

“In addition, in terms of costs, the cost of the district hospital under Agenda 111 is around $ 17 million. This is about 50% of the cost of similar projects under the previous administration which cost between 25 and 35 million dollars, ”he added.

On August 17, President Akufo-Addo observed the start of construction in Trede in the Ashanti region.

After the project started, some political actors, especially within the opposition, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), alleged that the cost of the construction had been inflated, referring to the gap between the start-up costs indicated by the government in relation to the amount entered in the project. half-yearly budget statement.

However, in response to the allegation, the Minister refuted the claim and described it as “totally false and politically fabricated”.

He explained that the $ 100 million is the same as the 600 million yen start-up funding that has been made available to the 217 entrepreneurs responsible for this phase of the project.

The minister encouraged a healthy public conversation about the project, but strongly advised against any attempts to undermine it in the hope of making partisan political gains.