as PAC Probes GH¢20 Million ‘Ghost’ Hospital
By Leo Nelson | Africa ProPublica
A high-stakes confrontation is brewing in Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as former Health Minister Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye and ex-District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) Administrator Irene Naa Torshie Addo have been summoned to explain how GH¢20 million in public funds was disbursed for a parliamentary hospital project that, according to official records, never saw a single shovel hit the ground.
The payment, authorised on December 31, 2024 the final day of the Akufo-Addo administration was flagged in the Auditor-General’s report as mobilisation funds for a contract signed by Okoe-Boye. Yet months later, no construction has taken place, and the project’s location has allegedly been shifted from the parliamentary enclave to National Security premises.
The summons was issued by the Committee’s Ranking Member, Samuel Atta Mills (MP, Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem), who made clear his frustration with the opaque handling of the project.
“Hon. Okoe-Boye will also have to appear and let us know. The company that took the money should also appear. Because GH¢20 million what time are they going to build the hospital?” Atta Mills demanded.
The Committee is seeking answers not only from Okoe-Boye but also from Naa Torshie Addo, who oversaw the DACF at the time of the payment, and the accountant involved in the transaction.
According to the Auditor-General’s findings, the Ministry of Health, under Okoe-Boye’s leadership, signed a GH¢108 million contract with Sienna Services for the construction of a specialised hospital for Parliament. A 15 per cent mobilisation fee GH¢20 million was paid on 31 December 2024.
However, when current DACF Administrator Michael Yamson appeared before the Committee on 1 April 2026, he disclosed that the project has stalled. He attributed the delay to a change in location: the hospital was originally intended for the parliamentary enclave but has now been moved to the premises of the National Security apparatus.
Yamson told the Committee that Sienna Services had responded to queries about how the GH¢20 million was used, but acknowledged that an outstanding portion of the mobilisation amount remains unaccounted for. He also noted that the contractor is still due a further 15 per cent mobilisation payment based on the original agreement.
The timing of the payment the last day of the fiscal year and the final day of the outgoing administration has fuelled suspicions of a rushed transaction designed to bypass scrutiny. Committee members are zeroing in on whether due process was followed, especially given that the project had not even secured a fixed site before funds were released.
Atta Mills and other members pressed Yamson on why the government would release mobilisation funds for a project whose location was yet to be finalised. The current Administrator could only point to correspondence with the contractor, leaving the fundamental questions of oversight and authorisation unanswered.
For the Committee, the central issue is no longer just the stalled project but the chain of decision-making that led to GH¢20 million leaving public coffers with no visible output.
Dr. Okoe-Boye, who served as Health Minister under President Akufo-Addo and is a former MP for Ledzokuku, is expected to face questions about the circumstances under which he signed the contract. Naa Torshie Addo, the former DACF boss, will likely be pressed on why her office authorised the payment on the very last day of the administration, and what safeguards if any were in place to protect public funds.
The case is emerging as a test of Parliament’s willingness to hold former officials accountable for pre-election and transition-period spending. With the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Abena Osei Asare, the hearings are expected to scrutinise not just the hospital project but broader patterns of fiscal discipline or the lack thereof— n the twilight days of the previous government.
For now, the GH¢20 million hangs in the balance, with no hospital in sight and a growing list of unanswered questions. The summonses of Okoe-Boye and Naa Torshie Addo signal that the Committee is determined to follow the money and the trail of responsibility to its conclusion.