By Grace Zigah
The long-delayed Sewua Government Hospital project has come under fresh scrutiny after the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, disclosed that government has detected payments made above the contract sum approved by Parliament to the contractor, Euroget De Invest, prompting a comprehensive audit before any further financial commitments can be made.
The revelation was made when the Health Minister appeared before Parliament’s Assurances Committee on where he explained that unresolved contractual and financial issues have become the biggest obstacle to the operationalisation of the Ashanti Regional health facility.
The Sewua Government Hospital project has been one of Ghana’s most anticipated healthcare investments. Originally conceived to decongest the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and improve healthcare delivery in the Ashanti Region, the hospital has faced years of delays due to funding constraints, contractual disputes with the contractor and infrastructure challenges despite successive governments committing resources toward its completion.
The hospital was built by the Egyptian contractor Euroget De-Invest S.A. as part of the broader “Ghana Hospital Project”. This umbrella contract covers a total of eight hospitals across the country, totaling $339 million.
Interestingly, it is the same contractor demanding $85 million to complete the Afari Military Hospital, a figure the minority in parliament has described as highly outrageous.
The minority said the contractor who is now a gold dealer is owed only $500,000 and not $85 million as being claimed.
We shall revisit the gold deal by the contractor.
Tracing the history of the project, Chairman of the Assurances Committee and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Dominic Aduna Bingab Nitiwul, recalled that Parliament first approved the project in November 2008 during the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
However, construction only commenced in 2014, with implementation continuing under the administrations of the late President John Evans Atta Mills and former President John Dramani Mahama before subsequent governments continued work on the facility.
Addressing the committee, Akandoh rejected public claims that the current administration had inherited a fully completed hospital but was refusing to open it for public use.
According to him, when the Mahama administration assumed office, several essential services required for the operation of the hospital were still unavailable.
“We inherited Sewua. We had no water, no access road, and no electricity connected to the place,” the Minister told Parliament.
He explained that beyond the infrastructure challenges, government had also uncovered what appeared to be financial irregularities involving payments made beyond the contract amount originally approved by Parliament.
“The truth of the matter is that this facility came to Parliament for approval, and you are a senior Member of Parliament. If you are going to pay anything over and above the contract sum as approved, it must come back to Parliament,” Akandoh stated.
He further disclosed that government had detected an overpayment under the contract and had therefore initiated an audit to determine the circumstances surrounding the excess payment before deciding on the next course of action.
“The Chairman, as I speak to you now, and that’s why we are very careful; we have detected that there’s some amount of money that has been paid over and above the contract sum that Parliament approved,” he revealed.
Health Minister noted that the contractual disagreement between government and the contractor has become so serious that even conducting a joint assessment of the current state of the project has become difficult.
“As I speak to you now, for us to even go back with the contractor to assess the progress so far has also become a problem,” he explained.
Despite the delays, Akandoh assured Parliament that the Ministry of Health has already prepared to operationalise the hospital immediately once the contractual issues are resolved and the facility is officially handed over.
“It isn’t everything that we can put out there. If this project is handed over to us today, I can assure you within the next two days, we can have the full complement of health professionals to operationalise it,” he said.
The Minister maintained that the unresolved contractual dispute remains the single biggest obstacle preventing the opening of the hospital.
“So there’s an issue between the contractor and government that we have not been able to resolve. How do you operationalise a project when you are in that situation?” he asked.
Reacting to the Minister’s briefing, Assurances Committee Chairman Dominic Nitiwul acknowledged the complexities surrounding the project and urged government to complete the ongoing audit before authorising any further payments to the contractor.
Nitiwul cautioned against politicising major national infrastructure projects, warning that political disagreements often prolong project completion and increase costs to the taxpayer.
“What I would advise Ghanaians is that if we have to complete those projects, we have to stop politicising them. Otherwise, these projects will never be completed in the next 10 years. When a contractor believes that these projects have become political, he will squeeze you and collect money that is not supposed to be given to him. Take it from me,” he cautioned.
The latest disclosure places the Sewua Government Hospital among several major health infrastructure projects currently under review by the Ministry of Health, as the government seeks to resolve contractual disputes, ensure value for money and complete outstanding projects before opening them to the public.
