Akufo-Addo’s 88 District Hospitals In the Year of Roads: a smelling fish?
In the middle of a ravaging disease that is threatening the very existence of mankind, stands a naked ‘king’ in a broken glasses of political lies gasping for breath. Indeed, politics in Africa stinks but the kind practiced by the current Ghanaian government led by William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is a decayed sample of what may live scars on his nation, Ghana for several years to come.
At a meeting with umbrella associations of the media last Friday April 24th, Akufo-Addo told the media leadership that he was informed “three days ago by Bawumiah” that eighty eight (88) (about one/third) of Ghana’s population do not have district hospitals. The President made this revelation to justify his believe (rightly) that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the nation’s public health system.
Appearing very ‘genuine’ at that point, he called on all Ghanaians to think through how the nation could find solution to the troubling situation of lack of adequate health facilities in so many areas of the country.
There is no gain saying the fact that lack of public health facilities to cater for mostly, poor people in the countryside is a reflection of inequality amounts to a breach of the roadmap towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agreed by all nations.
But even before he would call a cabinet meeting to discuss the possibility or not of building the so called 88 district hospitals, President Akufo-Addo took to the stage in his familiar voice to announce his government’s intention to start building 88 hospitals across the country.
“Govt has decided to embark on investment in health infrastructure this year. A total of 88 health facilities to be started and completed within 1 year. The health facility would each be 100 bed with bungalows for health workers”, the President told the nation in a Sunday evening nationwide broadcast. If indeed wishes were horses, beggars might be the best riders.
Hold on! lets do a small fact-checking of the disclosure by the President on the deplorable public health system in the country. I stand to be corrected but It could be surmised from the 20mins broadcast that; the President was until barely a week ago unaware that not all the 260 districts in Ghana have at least one district level hospital:
It is an undeniable fact that there was no cabinet meeting to discuss the building of the 88 district hospital. Even if there was, any cabinet meeting, this is a decision that must be routed through parliament in order to be taken serious.
If indeed we must take his 88 hospitals promise seriously and not as another prank, we must be told how much it would cost Ghanaians and the source of funding must be well disclosed and scrutinized.
The President is allowed to make more promises as a potential flagbearer of his the NPP but when he stand on a national platform to talk about something as serious as the unfortunate pandemic, he must, and I repeat he must watch his boundary.
The budget of 2020 was read in November 2019 and the state of the nation’s address was made in February this year where he declared 2020, “the year of road”. We can all refer to his ‘year of roads promise in the budget and in the state of the nation’s address whether we believe it or not. So when in a night that we were all looking to be comforted and assured that our government is doing its best to protect remaining lives and inspire the nation to fight on, we rather got such an embarrassing spectacle of lies in the form of campaign jokes, we have every right to be angry.
At 2016 when the NDC government was rollicking in a smeared campaign of corruption and it’s leader, John Mahama was struggling to remove a ‘suit’ of ‘incompetent’ sew him by the NPP, Akufo-Addo was busy courting Ghanaians with spiral promises and empty hopes that would only become a regret to many who listened and tagged along.
Akufo-Addo and his government must know that Ghanaians are who we are, the 1992 constitution gave us a liberation of minds and though we may be naïve, we shall not allow any group or individuals to walk on our pride as citizens. We shall duly demand accountability from everyone we submit our sovereignty.
We were promised one village, one dam; one district, one factory; 350 SHS from the scratch in eighteen months, etc and of course free SHS.
2020 is indeed a year of accountability: both President Akufo-Addo and ex-president Mahama will be judged on their track records; no two ways.
We shall demand accountability and decide on the competence of Akufo-Addo. So if I were you, Mr. Akufo-Addo, I would focus on doing what I have promised before 2016 for the day of reckoning is here.
Stay tune
Source: David Tamekloe
