The record of the NPP in Ashanti Region on health infrastructure is stronger than that of the NDC – LIPS

According to the Liberal Institute for Policy Studies (LIPS), a center-right think tank, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has outperformed the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region when it comes to providing infrastructure projects for the health sector.

The think tank claims that nine of the 13 hospital projects that the NPP built during President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration are currently in operation in that region.

Nevertheless, LIPS revealed during a news conference on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, that the National Democratic Congress NDC had not finished any hospital projects during their previous eight years in office.

They claim that in the eight years that the NDC was governed by the former John Evans Fiifi Mills and John Dramani Mahama, not a single hospital project in the Ashanti Region was operationalized.

At the official launch of the recently established center-right think-thank with its headquarters in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, April 23, Dr. Keskine Owusu Poku, executive director of LIPS, provided these updates. According to him, the governing party has accomplished more than just building traditional hospitals.

The Mother and Baby Unit is specifically the legacy of First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, who collected funds for the building project from business Ghana thanks to her resourcefulness and leadership. Five of these specialized projects have already been finished, and four of them are currently in operation. The Police Service’s Patase Police Hospital, the Comprehensive Treatment and Quarantine Facility (Sewua), the Treatment and Quarantine Facility (Chirapatre), Zipline Medical Drone Delivery, and One Constituency One Ambulance are the ones that have been finished.It is noteworthy that the Ashanti Region could only maintain two out of five operational ambulances prior to the One Constituency One Ambulance scheme.

There are now 48 ambulances in the Ashanti Region, with one assigned to each of the 47 constituencies and one to the Kumasi Sports Stadium. The Ashanti Region’s hinterland is receiving much-needed medical supplies thanks to the Medical Drone Delivery Service.

“We can state without any ambiguity that the record of the NPP in the Ashanti Region on health infrastructure, development and delivery, is stronger than that of the NDC”.

The Executive Director for LIPS, Keskine Owusu-Poku, revealed that the NPP launched 24 hospital initiatives in eight years, while the NDC could only manage six, based on facts on hospital projects between Ghana’s two major political parties.

He continued by saying that the NDC only inherited six hospital projects, of which it started two but never finished.

“The projects, the 800-bed KNUST Teaching Hospital, Bekwai hospital and the four Eurojet projects in the region that started under the Kuffour regime”.

“The NPP also inherited eight projects, initiated 24, making a total of 32 health infrastructural projects and completed 13 of which six of there were inherited facilities from previous governments”.

In order to analyze the findings of their study on healthcare initiatives and hospital infrastructure interventions, the researchers used three factors as its basis.

Projects inherited, initiated, and commissioned during the two NDC (2009–2016) and NPP (2017–2024) tenure periods were these factors.

The organization pointed out that throughout its eight years in office (2009–2016), the NDC failed to finish any hospital projects that it had inherited from previous administrations, including the 800-bed KNUST Hospital and the Bekwai, Konongo, Tepa, Sawua, and Afari projects.

On the other hand, according a member of the LIPS Victor Osei Poku, the NPP pursued more funds in 2019 to finish the long-standing Bekwai hospital and put it into service for usage in 2021.

He pointed out that of the four Eurojet projects, two the Konongo and Tepa district hospitals are now in operation and that three of those structures have been built.

The Think tank claims that between 2009 and 2016, the NDC started and abandoned several hospitals in the Ashanti Region.

He pointed out that the NDC had started two hospital projects in 2014 under the NMS projects, the Fomena and Kumawu District Hospitals, but none of them had been finished or put into service.

Nonetheless, the NPP has started 24 new hospital projects in the last eight years, five of which are part of the VAMED initiative and 19 of which are part of Agenda 111.

He said that while the Agenda 111 projects are in varying states of completion, the five VAMED projects Sabronum, Manso-Nkwanta, Suame-Anomangye, Drobonso, and Twedie have been finished and turned over to the government.

Thus according to Victor Osei Poku, “we can say that in the context of health infrastructure for the Ashanti Region, the NPP stands unparalleled.”

He went on to say that the NPP has completed four of the eight projects it inherited, refuting reports that it abandoned health projects it received from earlier administrations.

Victor Osei Poku, Dr. Keskine Owusu Poku, the Executive Director, and Professor Dr. Otchere Addai-Mensah, the President, are the founding members of the LIPS Think Tank.

The Director of Research Jimmy Boahie-Ansah, the Director of Administration and Finance Michael Essel-Mills, and the Presidential Advisor on Health Services Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, who also serves as a Special Consultant to LIPS on Policy Direction and Monitoring.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com/Louis Gyamerah