$85 Million Claim Is Untrue – Former Deputy Defence Minister Fires Back Over Afari Military Hospital Payment Controversy
Former Deputy Defence Minister, Kofi Amankwa Manu, has dismissed claims that the government owes contractors $85 million before work can continue on the stalled Afari Military Hospital project, describing the assertion as misleading and inconsistent with the facts.
Speaking of the controversy via zoom interview on Kessben TV’s Digest show, Mr. Amankwa Manu accused some government officials of creating a false impression about the project’s financial obligations and urged them to verify the records before making public statements.
According to him, the Afari Military Hospital project was initiated under the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor. He noted that former President John Dramani Mahama later continued the project but was also unable to complete it.
He explained that the facility was conceived as a turnkey project with an estimated cost of $180 million, and that the contract was awarded to Euroget Construction.
Mr. Amankwa Manu revealed that after the project was suspended for nearly six years, the contractor requested a variation cost of about $36 million. However, government negotiations reportedly reduced the amount to $19.3 million.
He further disclosed that delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led the contractor to submit an additional claim of $6 million, but government agreed to pay only $3 million. Of that amount, he said, $1.5 million was paid initially, with the remaining $1 million settled later.
The former deputy minister stated that by the time the previous administration left office, the hospital project was approximately 92.5 percent complete, covering major architectural, structural and clinical components.
He acknowledged that some outstanding works, including sections of the sewage system, remained unfinished and would require additional funding to complete.
However, he strongly rejected suggestions that contractors are demanding $85 million before resuming work.
“Now we are hearing that the contractor is claiming we owe him $85 million before he can complete the work, and that is untrue,” he stressed.
The remarks add a new dimension to the ongoing debate over the status, cost and completion of the Afari Military Hospital, one of Ghana’s most significant healthcare infrastructure projects.
