Private legal practitioner Nana Yaw Osei has strongly rejected Bantama MP Francis Asenso-Boakye’s claim that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government did not abandon the Afari Military Hospital and Sewua Regional Hospital projects.
Osei described the facilities as clearly neglected, contradicting Asenso-Boakye’s assertion during an AbusuaFM Bresosem interview that work stalled only due to financial constraints.
Asenso-Boakye, responding to queries on Directive Principles of State Policy cited in his letter to President John Mahama opposing the Express Road project, insisted the Akufo-Addo administration continued prior projects like Afari and Sewua.
He attributed delays to financial variations, not abandonment, despite the facilities being over 70% complete when inherited.
This defense reignited debates on the NPP’s Agenda 111 hospital promise, which was aimed for 111 facilities be completed in 18 months with a groundbreaking ceremony taking place on August 17, 2021 but remains largely unfulfilled in late 2025.
On the same AbusuaFM program hosted by Kojo Marfo, Osei directly challenged Asenso-Boakye, stating “Asenso Boakye listen, you, your government abandoned Afari and Sewua,” adding “Any rightful person in his senses listening to you can’t comprehend. We walk past Afari every day; it got to a point where even journalists wanting to look at what’s going on there you were using police and military preventing them. Today, what do you want to tell us?”
The legal practitioner raised concerns over equipment functionality at Afari Military Hospital following eight years unused and criticized the NPP’s unwise decision to neglect the advanced project.
He remarked, “When the government (NPP) initiated Agenda 111, the reason some of us were not against the initiative but didn’t believe it could be achieved was that the government came to meet Afari, which was about 70+ percent complete. Till date, it’s not operational.
“Facilities with air conditioners and other equipment there if what we are hearing is true, have all been destroyed because it’s over eight years untouched. How can they work?”
Dismissing budget woes for Sewua the Ashanti Regional Hospital, Nana Yaw Osei stated, “While you (Asenso Boakye) were speaking, I was expecting to hear you say we did up to, let’s say, 95 percent complete. In Ghana here, when has money not been a challenge for a project? Even after budgeting for the project and not getting the expected revenue, is that something new?
“Over the years, it happens, and every government faces such challenges. So, if you abandoned projects, 2023/2024 is not that far for people to forget issues like that.”
He criticized Agenda 111 as unrealistic from inception, asking why the NPP did not foresee three-year timelines or revenue issues when promising 111 hospitals in 18 months.
Osei emphasized “Agenda 111, some of us criticized the initiative not because we opposed building hospitals, but because we knew it was not possible. When did he (Asenso Boakye) realize that projects started within three years cannot be completed? Didn’t they know this when they promised that 111 hospitals would be completed within 18 months, and where were they going to get the money from?
“Did you hear him speak against it during their tenure? If given the opportunity then, he would have been touting that they would do it,” he added.
Osei accused Asenso-Boakye of newfound wisdom post-tenure, absent during NPP implementation.
“What has changed that all of a sudden he has gained wisdom and realized that some projects, looking at the work on them, cannot be achieved in three years?,” he asked rhetorically.
Source: www.Kumasimail.com
