Kofi Amankwa-Manu addressing the media
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has accused the government of plotting to pay an unjustified US$85 million to the contractor of the Afari Military Hospital project in Kumasi, describing the move as a deliberate attempt to “create, loot and share” public funds.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament yesterday, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, alleged that claims by Deputy Defence Minister, Ernest Brogya Genfi, regarding the status of the project were false and intended to justify “an outrageous financial demand.”
According to him, assertions that the 500-bed military hospital at Afari in the Ashanti Region was only 60 percent complete were inconsistent with official records available at the Ministry of Defence.
Mr. Amankwa-Manu said documents from the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) indicated that as of September 2024, the core hospital facility was already 92.5 percent complete, while the overall project had reached 98 percent completion by January 2025.
He explained that civil works on the core hospital stood at 97.5 percent, architectural works at 87 percent, support facilities including staff housing at 77 percent, while road works and landscaping had reached 80 percent and 77 percent completion, respectively.
“The narrative being peddled that the facility is only 60 percent complete is a complete fabrication designed to justify an outrageous financial demand,” he stated.
The former Deputy Defence Minister further challenged claims that the contractor, Euroget De-Invest (EDI), had demanded US$85 million before returning to site to complete the project.
He described the alleged debt as a “manufactured crisis” and maintained that records at both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Defence did not support such a claim.
Providing what he described as the financial facts surrounding the project, Mr. Amankwa-Manu said the original US$180 million contract sum financed through a loan facility had been fully paid.
He added that an additional US$19.3 million approved by the “Government of Ghana” to compensate the contractor for delays arising from the relocation of the project had also been settled in full.
According to him, a subsequent claim of more than US$6.5 million submitted by the contractor was negotiated down to US$3 million, out of which US$2.5 million had already been paid.
“The only outstanding amount owed to the contractor is US$500,000,” he said.
Mr. Amankwa-Manu questioned how an outstanding balance of US$500,000 could suddenly become an US$85 million demand, arguing that such a development lacked any financial or contractual justification.
He alleged that any attempt to authorise payment of the amount would constitute a serious abuse of public funds and vowed that the Minority would resist any such move.
The lawmaker also used the occasion to revisit the history of the project, blaming the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government for delays that he said significantly increased costs and prolonged completion.
According to him, the project was originally awarded in 2008 under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor and was initially intended to be constructed at Sofoline in Kumasi.
However, he said that following the change of government in 2009, the project was moved from Kumasi to Tamale, then to Accra, before eventually being relocated to Afari.
He argued that the multiple relocations delayed implementation by six years and led to additional compensation claims by the contractor.
Mr. Amankwa-Manu further claimed that by the time the NDC left office in December 2016, the project had achieved only 40 percent completion despite construction having commenced in 2014.
He credited the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration with advancing the project from 40 percent completion to 98 percent by January 2025.
While reaffirming the Minority’s support for the completion and operationalisation of the facility, he insisted that the project must not become a vehicle for what he termed “daylight robbery.”
“We all want the Afari Military Hospital completed to serve the health needs of the Ghana Armed Forces and the people of the Ashanti Region, but this must not become a conduit for the siphoning of public funds,” he said.
The Minority therefore called on the government to abandon any plans to honour the alleged US$85 million claim, settle the outstanding US$500,000 owed to the contractor and ensure that the remaining work on the project is completed without further delay.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House