Esq Sammy Gyamfi has reclaimed all credit given to President Akufo-Addo’s Government. Stating that, the current administration had little to do in the construction of the Upper West Regional hospital.
The communication officer of the National Democratic Congress, Esquire Sammy Gyamfi has provided details discrediting the current administration been led by H.E Akufo-Addo, with respect to the construction of the Upper West Regional hospital.
Esquire Sammy Gyamfi in his submission, alluded to the fact that, the project was conceptualized by the New Patriotic Party’s government under the leadership of Former president John Agyekum Kuffuor in 2008 however, the National Democratic Congress under the supervision of the Late President John Evans prioritize the construction of the hospital as he appointed his vice, John Dramani Mahama to cut sod for the project to begin.
“I have seen some desperate NPP propagandists share a video of the Upper West Regional Hospital, with the claim that it was started by Former President Kufour and completed by President Akufo-Addo.
“Although the history of the Upper West Regional Hospital is well-known and a matter of public record, it is important to set the records straight so that unsuspecting Ghanaians are not hoodwinked by this dubious propaganda.
“1. The 160-bed Upper West Regional Hospital project was one of the nine (9) hospitals which were awarded to Euroget De Invest in the year 2010 by the Government of Ghana.
“2. The project was conceptualized and initiated by the Kufour government as part of what is called “The Hospitals Project”. Euroget De Invest was engaged by the Government of Ghana to design and build 8 hospitals for the Ministry of Health and 1 hospital for the Ministry of Defense.
“3. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Government of Ghana and Euroget De Invest for the nine (9) hospital projects in April 2008.
“4. Cabinet gave approval for the Euroget hospital projects on 29th October 2008.
“5. On 12th November, 2008, the Parliament of Ghana approved the loan for the Euroget hospital projects, an amount of $339 million dollars which was to be sourced from Egypt. The Kufour government was then voted out of office. See modernghan
“6. The contracts for the projects were signed between the Mills government and Euroget in 2010.
“7. On 31st July, 2010, then Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E John Dramani Mahama cut the sod for the Upper West Regional Hospital.
“8. However, construction of the project could not commence due to the inability of the company, Euroget De Invest to secure funding from Egypt. This undue delay was mainly occasioned by the Arab spring upheaval in Egypt. Thus, the Upper West regional hospital could not start on schedule due to lack of funds. See modernghana.com/news/286954/16…
“9. Through the hard work of the Mills/Mahama government, approval was given to Euroget De Invest and funding was secured from a Barclays PLC- ABSA SA consortium to finance the project in August 2012. See ghanabusinessnews.com/2012/08/24/bar…
“10. In November 2012, just before the elections, then running mate to Akufo-Addo, Alhaji Bawumia visited the project site with the media and mocked John Mahama and the NDC for deceiving the people of Upper West region. S
“11. Actual construction began in 2014 under the Mahama/NDC government with funding from the Barclays-ABSA bank consortium. By the time John Mahama was leaving office, the project was about 95%.
According to Esq Sammy Gyamfi “These facts are verifiable and indisputable.
“13. It is true that the project has its roots in the Kufour government. It was in 2008, that the MoU and original loan agreement was signed and approved. However, the funding arrangement envisaged under the Kufour government didn’t materialize. The contracts were signed and the sod cut for the project by the Mills/Mahama government. More importantly, Funding was secured in August 2012 under the Mills/Mahama government. Construction began in 2014 under the Mahama government and was over 95% complete in 2016 before John Mahama left office.
“14. The Upper West Regional hospital project should have been fully completed and commissioned latest by 2017 but was unduly delayed by President Akufo-Addo and commissioned in 2019.
“15. While it is fair to give President Kuffuor the credit for conceptualizing and initiating the project, the chunk of the credit must go to the Mills/Mahama governments which worked with Euroget to secure funding for the project and supervised the construction of the project from ground zero to about 95% completion stage.
He further iterated “Akufo-Addo and Bawumia knows next to nothing about this project and contributed very little to its completion.”
