The Chairman of the Greater Accra Caucus of the Minority, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has issued a stern warning to the government to ensure that the construction of the La General Hospital is captured in the 2024 budget.

He said should the government fail to heed this caution, the NDC MPs will organise residents of La and Ga Mashie to picket at the offices of state institutions.

The former Local Government Minister also threatened that the Minority would disrupt parliamentary proceedings until their concerns on the matter are addressed.

Demolished La General Hospital: We will not allow 2024 budget go through if there are no commitments on the hospital. - Odododiodio MP#JoyNews pic.twitter.com/xE9R3lEysv

— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) November 7, 2023

Addressing Parliament in Accra on Tuesday, November 7, Mr Vanderpuye stated, “I am assuring you that, if we don’t see it in the 2024 budget, we will not make the budget in this house come out. We will ensure that sitting will be disrupted until we see the La General Hospital captured in the budget. We will show you that you are on our land. This will be another showdown.”

“We will make sure that the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance will not enjoy the peace in their ministries. We will marshal the people of La and Ga Mashie to occupy your offices if you don’t work on the La General Hospital.”

Meanwhile, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu in Parliament has attributed the delay in reconstructing the La General Hospital in Accra to funds being withheld by the hospital’s sponsors.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained in a statement to Parliament that the sponsors withheld the funds following Ghana’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Mr. Speaker, what has happened is that after the engagement with the IMF, funding from those sources that Parliament approved of, the funding has been withheld by the sponsors.”

“Mr. Speaker, until the nation is given a clean bill of health by the IMF, it is going to be difficult for the funding to be released. This is why the government now wants to situate it within the context of Agenda 111, and that will mean that the facility will have to be scaled down a bit,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said.

The La General Hospital was demolished in July 2020 due to severe structural problems reported by the hospital’s administration.

President Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the commencement of construction of the La General Hospital Redevelopment Project on August 10, 2020, but work has yet to begin.