The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Digital Centres Limited (GDCL), Christine Ansong, has criticised the erstwhile Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration for neglecting regional innovation centres established under the previous John Mahama government.

According to Ms. Ansong, the centres, which were built to promote digital skills and entrepreneurship among the youth, were left to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance and operational support.

“The facilities were abandoned. Air-conditioners were stolen, chairs got broken, and in some cases, squatters took over the spaces,” she lamented.

She further disclosed that in the eighth year of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, a committee was set up to renovate the facilities, but contractors engaged for the project have still not been paid.

Ms. Ansong noted that the Ghana Digital Centres Limited is now working to restore and operationalise the facilities across the regions.

“We are redeveloping the centres to bring them back to life. The Mahama-led administration needs these facilities to roll out the One Million Coders Programme,” she told Accra-based Radio Gold.

She explained that the restoration project forms part of a broader effort by the Digital Centres to expand Ghana’s innovation infrastructure.

Recently, Ms. Ansong announced plans to build new innovation hubs in at least two of the six newly created regions, in line with the government’s vision to ensure equitable digital access nationwide.

The GDCL, under the supervision of the Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Sam George, oversees all regional innovation centres, including the Accra Digital Centre, which currently provides Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and startup incubation services.