The project, which was initiated by the Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana (SCFG), with funding from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), was expected to be completed in May 2019 but it was extended to May 2020.

However, further works on the project have been aborted because the contractor has not been paid since August 2020 and at the end of 2021, the project was still behind schedule and it is still unclear when it will be completed.

This came to light when the Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso, together with the members of the KATH Board, visited some project sites of the hospital.

The visit was to afford the board members the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the progress of work on the projects and the challenges facing the contractors.

Delay

Briefing the team, the Consultant to the project, Nana Asibey Opoku, said since August 2020 no payment had been made to the contractors, which accounted for the stalling of the project.

He said the foundation had lobbied the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to urge the GNPC to release funds for the completion of the project but that had not happened.

In 2016, the GNPC, through the Asantehene, presented a dummy cheque for $4.5 million to the foundation as a representation of the amount pledged for the construction, tooling and training of personnel for the first ever Sickle Cell and Blood Centre in Ghana at KATH.

However, since an initial release from the GNPC, there had been a lull in the funding of the project by the benefactors – GNPC. According to Nana Opoku, the money so far released had enabled the completion of the first fixing of the plumbing and electrical works, with the building of the basement structure and ground floor also completed.

Concerns

The KATH Board expressed grave concerns at the delay of the project and said they feared that it could affect the cost of the project and further delay its completion.

Already, the board is worried that the project has failed to meet its reviewed timeline and they believe the continuous non-payment of claims by the contractor will further move the date of completion forward.

The board has, therefore, appealed to the sponsors, GNPC, to honour their pledge and pay the contractor to enable them to complete the project.

Meanwhile, the contractor had agreed to continue with the project after an intervention by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

When completed, the centre is expected to serve as a one-stop centre for the management of all sickle cell cases and blood transfusion-related services for the northern half of the country.