By Prince Ahenkorah
A simmering turf war over credit for hospital infrastructure in the Ashanti Region has erupted into a public spat between former Health Minister Dr. Okoe Boye and Ashanti Regional Minister Dr. Frank Amoakohene, laying bare the political fault lines surrounding the controversial Agenda 111 initiative.
Dr. Okoe Boye, a key figure in the previous NPP administration, took to social media to assert that twelve hospitals including those at Suame, Twedie, and Drobonso were completed under his watch between 2021 and 2024, at a cost of €71.5 million. He named Austrian firm Vamed as the contractor and dismissed claims that the facilities were part of the Mahama-led Agenda 111 rollout.
“If the minister says they’ve operationalized them, I salute him,” Boye wrote, “but let’s not rewrite history.”
Dr. Amoakohene fired back, accusing Boye of “innuendos” and misrepresentation. He argued that while construction began under the previous government, none of the cited hospitals were completed or functional by the time the NDC assumed office in 2025.
Citing a March 2025 report by 3News, Amoakohene pointed to Trede Hospital’s GH₵100 million funding gap and unfinished status as evidence that the facilities were far from ready. He stressed that completion must include equipment installation, staffing, and utility infrastructure not just brick and mortar.
The Regional Minister defended the current administration’s role in operationalizing stalled projects, including the posting of medical personnel and installation of essential systems. He praised President Mahama’s commitment to continuity, contrasting it with what he described as years of neglect at sites like Afari Military Hospital and Sewua Regional Hospital.
“The people of Ashanti deserve truth, not partisan revisionism,” Amoakohene said. “What matters is that citizens now have access to quality healthcare facilities that were once left idle.”
The clash underscores the broader challenge of attributing credit in Ghana’s infrastructure landscape, where successive governments often inherit half-built projects and repurpose them under new banners.
With Agenda 111 still dogged by delays and funding shortfalls, the Ashanti Region’s hospital rollout has become a proxy battleground for legacy politics where bricks, beds, and budgets are wielded as instruments of partisan validation.
For now, the patients may be the only winners, as long-dormant facilities finally begin to serve the communities they were built for.