The 500-bed military hospital at Afari in the Ashanti Region was not 98 per cent complete when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration was leaving office in January 2025. And it is nowhere near 98 per cent complete in June 2026.

The false claim that the hospital was 98 per cent complete when the NPP left office is contained in an NPP press statement signed by the co-chair of the NPP’s policy committee on Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, a former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service.

The NPP’s statement said official records of the “Official records of the Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Defence show the core hospital at 92.5 per cent completion as of September 2024, with overall completion reaching 98 per cent by January 2025.”

The statement continued: “As of September 2024, civil works on the core hospital stood at 97.5 per cent, architectural works at 87 per cent, support facilities, including staff housing, at 77 per cent overall, roads at 80 per cent, and landscaping at 77 per cent. What remains is the completion of a small balance of work, not a fresh construction effort.”

Missing in the list above is the core of the hospital, the biomedical equipment installation. A source familiar with the project said that without the equipment, the structures alone do not constitute a hospital.

“As it stands, we can convert the structures into a school. What makes it a hospital is the equipment,” the source told this reporter.

The latest progress report of the hospital, dated April 4, 2025, contradicts the claim that the project was 98 per cent complete as of January 2025.

The 22-page progress report of the Afari Military Hospital is prepared by the project consultants, CAAD and CAD Consult Limited, and the Ministry of Defence Project Implementation Unit. The report is signed by the project’s lead consultant, Dr Cyprian Wenyonu.

The following is the progress of work done, as contained in the latest report:

Civil works: 97 per cent complete

Architectural works: 80 per cent complete

Biomedical equipment installation: 5 per cent complete

Overall project completion: 60 per cent.

False reports on the completion of the hospital are not new. The Minister for Defence in the NPP’s eight-year administration, Dominic Nitiwul, said a false progress report in 2020 almost resulted in the commissioning of the uncompleted project.

“On November 28, 2020, President Akufo-Addo was going to commission the Afari Military Hospital based on false reports. I had to stop the president from commissioning it.”

The Afari Military Hospital project has stalled in recent times because of a deadlock between the contractor and the government of Ghana. Apart from the initial contract sum of $180 million, which the contractor was paid through government bonds, the contractor is claiming almost $85 million in additional costs for the delays and changes on the part of the government.

Mr Nitiwul said, as far as he is concerned, the contractor has been paid in full, and that it would be “criminal” for anyone to pay the contractor additional funds for the project.

Background of the project

The 500-bed military hospital at Afari was one of nine hospital contracts awarded to the Egyptian company, Euroget De-invest s.a (EDI), in November 2008.

The NPP administration led by President J. A. Kufuor left office after losing the 2008 election.

Over the eight years of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, the project was delayed in starting due to relocations, redesigns, and delays in granting tax exemptions to the contractor.

In 2008, when the contract was awarded, the military hospital was to be sited in Sofoline in Kumasi.

In 2009, the project was relocated to Tamale.

In 2010, the same project was relocated to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. Here, preparatory work began, but the project did not proceed.

In 2013, the project was relocated to its present site at Afari, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. However, there were further delays.

The Government of Ghana changed its policy on tax exemptions, and the contract required that the contractor be given a tax exemption as a prerequisite for work to begin.

The tax exemption was finally granted in December 2016, the month the NDC lost power after eight years in office.

“We wrote to officially notify the contractor of the tax exemption in early 2017, when the counting began. The contractor was supposed to complete and hand over the facility in June 2020,” Mr Nitiwul said.

Actual construction of the hospital, however, started in 2014.

Disputed payment

The recent stalling of the project results from a disputed claim the contractor presented for payment.

While the NPP was in office, the contractor made a claim for $6.5 million and served notice of additional claims. This was contained in a letter dated July 5, 2024.

In a letter dated November 21, 2024, the then Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, disputed the claim. He said the government and the contractor had negotiated and agreed on the outstanding balance to be paid to the contractor.

“You will recall that in your letter of 14^th July 2023, you agreed to the payment of $3,500,000.00, being the outstanding claim value and associated financial cost of the project. This followed discussion [sic] at which we negotiated for you to complete the project with the $3,500,000.00.”

The July 14, 2023, letter the Minister of Finance referenced was signed by Dr Said Deraz, Chairman and CEO of Euroget De-Invest s.a.

In that letter, the contractor concludes by saying: “In furtherance, we will appreciate the release of an amount of Three Million Five Hundred United States Dollars (US$3,500,000.00) to progress activities towards commissioning. This represents outstanding claims of One Million United States Dollars plus 26.5% of the associated financial costs.”

Before leaving office, the NPP administration did not pay the $6.5 million that the contractor claimed he was owed.

In a letter dated April 2, 2025, the contractor added another claim of $78.4 million, which it had notified the government of in July 2024.

This brought the total claim to the $84.9 million.

The initial contract sum was $180 million for the Afari Military Hospital. That amount has been paid in full, through government bonds, according to Mr Nitiwul. The monies in contention are additional charges the contractor presented outside the initial contract sum.

Due to delays and relocations of the site, the contractor made a claim of $30 million in 2018. This was negotiated down to $19.3 million.

“As far as I’m concerned, we have paid the contractor in full. We do not owe him anything. It will be criminal for anybody to pay the contractor any amount.”

Mr Nitiwul has advised that a firm decision should be made on the project so that the people of Ghana can benefit from the investment in the hospital.

“My recommendations are two: either they make the contractor complete the project at no additional cost, or they should terminate the contract and award a new contractor to complete it,” he said.