Chairman of Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr Mark Kurt Nawaane, has accused the previous government of neglecting the completion of the Afari Military Hospital and the Sewua Regional Hospital in favour of the Agenda 111 hospital project.

His comment comes after Minority Health Committee members are demanding the operationalisation of stalled health facilities in the Ashanti Region.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews' The Pulse on Wednesday, June 10, Dr. Nawaane argued that the previous administration failed to commit the necessary resources to complete projects it inherited, despite having access to substantial funding.

According to him, when members of the Health Committee visited the Afari facility while serving in the Minority, the hospital was about 75 per cent complete, with medical equipment already on site.

He said some of the equipment had been left exposed and risked deterioration due to delays in completing the project.

“This project was inherited from the previous NDC administration. When we visited as a Health Committee, then in the Minority, the Afari Hospital was about 75 per cent complete. There was equipment there, some of which was getting rotten, spoiled and exposed to the weather,” he said.

Dr. Nawaane questioned the decision to channel COVID-19 funds into the construction of Agenda 111 facilities instead of completing existing health projects such as Afari and Sewua.

He argued that the resources available at the time could have been used to complete several unfinished hospitals across the country rather than awarding contracts for numerous new facilities simultaneously.

“What prevented them from using that money to complete uncompleted projects such as Afari and Sewua? Why award 111 contracts when the available resources could only finance a fraction of those projects?” he queried.

The Health Committee Chair maintained that completing existing hospital projects would have delivered quicker benefits to communities and strengthened healthcare delivery, particularly in underserved areas.