Government has asked persons deliberately pushing political angst against its much-touted Agenda 111 hospital project, without basis, to desist from such acts.

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said government has taken note of genuine issues from various actors, including health-based CSOs, media and the general public, regarding risk factors that should be attended to for the agenda to succeed and benefit all. He, however, noted that persons who are causing anxiety with parochial partisan interests are rather jeopardising the construction of the hospitals.

“We have noticed deliberate politically motivated claims of impropriety being cooked up against the Agenda 111 project.

“This includes a claim by MP for North Dayi that the projects were illegally awarded, and the contract prices inflated. Another is the claim that already 600m cedis has been spent when no work has been done,” he told journalists at a press briefing in Accra on Sunday.

The Ofoase Ayirebi MP said, “Government assures the public that All contracts associated with the project were legally granted in accordance with approvals from the Public Procurement Authority.

“Additionally in terms on costs the cost of the district hospital under agenda 111 is about 17m USD. This is about 50% the cost of similar projects under the previous administration which cost between $25 and $35 million,” he added.

On August 17, President Akufo-Addo observed the commencement of works at Trede in the Ashanti Region.

Post the commencement of the project, some political actors, particularly in the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have alleged that the cost of construction has been inflated, referencing the discrepancy in commencement fees as stated by government vis-à-vis the amount captured in the mid-year budget statement.

However, responding to the claim, the Minister debunked the assertion and described it as “totally untrue and politically trumped up”.

He explained that the $100 million is the same as the ¢600 million commencement funding, which has been made available to the 217 contractors handling this phase of the project.

The Minister encouraged a healthy public conversation on the project, but strongly discouraged any attempt to undermine it with the hope of making partisan political gains.