Gov’t to prioritise 35 Agenda 111 hospitals for completion – Akandoh

The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has announced that Cabinet has approved government investment in 35 district hospitals under the Agenda 111 project, with the facilities expected to be completed in phases.

Mr Akandoh said the decision was aimed at concentrating resources on selected hospitals to ensure their completion rather than spreading available funding across all the projects simultaneously.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Monday, October 19, 2026, the Minister said the government would prioritise the 35 facilities while exploring partnerships to complete and operationalise other hospitals under the initiative.

“Cabinet has approved to invest in 35 of the district hospitals under Agenda 111. So we are phasing them out. That was our position when we were in opposition. We thought that you can’t spread yourself too thin, and at the end of the day, you don’t do anything,” he said.

The Health Minister disclosed that approximately GH¢4.5 billion had already been spent on the Agenda 111 hospitals.

He argued that the amount could have been sufficient to complete about 20 hospitals if resources had been concentrated on a smaller number of facilities.

“You have spent about GH¢4.5 billion. This GH¢4.5 billion could have finished about 20 of them. So we think that we can go gradually. So we are investing in about 35. Some of these hospitals, the contractors are on site,” he added.

The phased approach is intended to allow the government to focus available resources on completing selected facilities while developing alternative arrangements for the remaining projects.

Mr Akandoh said the government was engaging faith-based healthcare providers, including the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, to identify hospitals they could help complete, equip and operate.

Under the proposed arrangement, the government would make selected facilities available to the organisations to complete construction, install equipment and manage operations.

“Government will give them those facilities to finish, equip and then run, because after all, government pays their compensation for them. We have that kind of relationship,” he said.

The Minister further disclosed that another batch of between 30 and 35 Agenda 111 hospitals was being prepared for completion through partnerships.

He indicated that the government could consider additional phases of direct investment after assessing progress on the initial 35 facilities.

According to Mr Akandoh, the selection of hospitals for the first phase of investment was based on two main considerations: the level of completion and equitable distribution across Ghana’s 16 regions.

“Two main factors: level of completion and fair distribution. For example, we have about 16 regions, so at least every region must have one or two,” he said.

He explained that regional equity could influence the selection process, meaning a hospital with a lower completion rate in one region could be prioritised over a more advanced facility elsewhere to ensure fair geographical distribution.

The approach is intended to balance the need to complete projects that are closer to operational readiness with the goal of improving access to healthcare infrastructure across the country.

The Minister also announced that construction work had resumed at the Sewua Government Hospital after the government addressed challenges relating to road access, electricity, water supply and the installation of equipment.

He said the resolution of these issues had enabled the contractor to return to the site and continue work.

“We had issues about the road, we had issues about electricity, we had issues about water, we had issues about installation of some equipment. Now water solved, electricity is solved, road is solved. So the contractor is on site as I speak to you now,” he said.

The resumption of work at Sewua forms part of the government's wider effort to move stalled or incomplete hospital projects towards completion and service delivery.

The phased investment strategy, together with planned partnerships with faith-based healthcare providers, is expected to determine how quickly more Agenda 111 facilities can be completed and made available to the public.