The Minority in Parliament has rejected claims that the government is demanding 85 million US dollars before the contractor returns to the site to complete the Afari Military Hospital, describing the figure as a “manufactured crisis” and insisting it is not backed by official records from the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Defence.

Speaking at a press conference in Parliament, Deputy Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, laid out what he described as the full financial breakdown of the project, insisting that the outstanding amount on the contract is far lower than what is being claimed.

According to him, the original contract sum of 180 million US dollars was financed through a loan, which he said has already been fully paid.

He added that an additional 19.3 million US dollars provided by the Government of Ghana to cover delays arising from what he described as “misguided relocations” has also been fully settled.

He further explained that a subsequent claim initially valued at over 6.5 million US dollars was renegotiated down to 3 million US dollars, out of which 2.5 million US dollars has already been paid. This, he said, leaves only 500,000 US dollars as the outstanding balance owed to the contractor.

Mr Amankwa-Manu therefore questioned how the figure could suddenly escalate from an outstanding 500,000 US dollars to an alleged 85 million US dollar demand.

“To jump from an outstanding balance of 500,000 US dollars to a sudden demand for 85 million US dollars is not just mathematically absurd, it is indeed criminal,” he stated.

He argued that no records exist at the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Defence to support such an amount, insisting that the claim is outrageous and misleading.

The Minority further accused the government of attempting to use the project as a conduit for financial mismanagement, describing the situation as part of what they termed a “create, loot and share” agenda.

According to them, it is “rich” for the current administration to accuse others of delaying the project, referencing what they described as a history of setbacks linked to earlier relocation decisions.

Mr Amankwa-Manu stressed that the military hospital, once completed, is expected to serve the Ghana Armed Forces as well as residents of the Ashanti Region and beyond, but warned that it must not be turned into what he described as a conduit for “daylight robbery.”

“However, this must not become a conduit for daylight robbery. Any attempt to use the backdoor to justify this newly generated 85 million US dollar claim can only be described in the popular Ghanaian cliché as ‘create, loot and share,’” he said.

The Minority declared that it will strongly resist any attempt to approve the alleged amount, insisting that government must prioritise value for money and accountability.

“We will fiercely resist this scheme, demand value for money, and protect the public purse,” he added.

They are therefore calling on government to immediately abandon what they describe as a fraudulent 85 million US dollar claim, settle the outstanding 500,000 US dollars, and ensure that the remaining 2 percent of work on the facility is completed without further delay for public use.