The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning says it expects to begin making various payments from the GH¢600 million released in 2020 to the Health Infrastructure Account at Bank of Ghana to support the implementation of the District and Regional Hospital Projects, Agenda 111.

A statement issued by the Ministry Thursday, said claims by the Minority in Parliament that some GH¢636 million had been spent on Agenda 111 even before the sod was cut on Tuesday, August 17, for the project was only speculation, explaining that only GH¢36 million has been released.

“As stated in paragraph 400 of the Mid-Year Review Statement, the project is expected to be implemented in two phases;

Phase 1: Pre-Contract Works; and
Phase 2: Construction and Execution of projects.

“In 2020, GH0 600 million was released to the Health Infrastructure Account at Bank of Ghana (BoG) to support the implementation of the District and Regional Hospital Projects. This is the equivalent of the 100m US Dollars as announced by Government and will be disbursed to contractors in accordance with the project work plan.

“The said amount had been released into the project account at the BoG but not utilized yet. Project commencement has just begun. So far, only GH£36million has been released as part of pre-construction mobilization.

“Following the commencement of actual project execution as evident in the sod cutting ceremony of 17th August 2021, we expect to drawdown various amounts from the account which would be managed by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).

“We wish to assure the general public that Government is still committed to tackling Ghana's health infrastructure deficit and restoring the country on the path of achieving economic and social transformation. In this regard, we will ensure the use of local teams comprising of Ghanaian consultants, project managers and construction firms to execute the project and also ensure due process during disbursement and procurement”, the statement, reproduced in full below, said.