The Minority in Parliament has rejected claims that the government is demanding 85 million US dollars before the contractor returns to complete the Afari Military Hospital project.
The group described the amount as a “manufactured crisis” with no backing from official records at the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of Defence.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament, Deputy Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, Kofi Amankwa-Manu, presented what he described as the true financial status of the project, insisting the actual outstanding payment is far lower than the figure being circulated.
According to him, the original 180 million US dollar contract, financed through a loan facility, has already been fully paid.
He said the government also settled an additional 19.3 million US dollars provided to cover delays caused by what he described as “misguided relocations.”
Mr Amankwa-Manu further explained that another claim, originally valued at more than 6.5 million US dollars, was renegotiated to 3 million US dollars.
Out of that amount, he said 2.5 million US dollars has already been paid, leaving an outstanding balance of just 500,000 US dollars.
He therefore questioned how the amount could rise from 500,000 US dollars to an alleged 85 million US dollar demand.
“To jump from an outstanding balance of 500,000 US dollars to a sudden demand for 85 million US dollars is not just mathematically absurd, it is indeed criminal,” he stated.
He maintained that neither the Ministry of Finance nor the Ministry of Defence has any record supporting the alleged 85 million US dollar claim, describing it as misleading and unacceptable.
The Minority also accused the government of attempting to use the project as a channel for financial mismanagement, linking the issue to what they described as a “create, loot and share” agenda.
According to the group, it is “rich” for the current administration to blame others for delays on the project, pointing to earlier relocation decisions which they say contributed to setbacks.
Mr Amankwa-Manu stressed that the hospital is an important national project expected to benefit the Ghana Armed Forces, residents of the Ashanti Region, and the general public once completed.
“However, this must not become a conduit for daylight robbery. Any attempt to use the backdoor to justify this newly generated 85 million US dollar claim can only be described in the popular Ghanaian cliché as ‘create, loot and share,’” he said.
The Minority says it will oppose any attempt to approve the alleged amount and insists the government must ensure accountability and value for money.
“We will fiercely resist this scheme, demand value for money, and protect the public purse,” he added.
The group is therefore calling on the government to abandon what it describes as a fraudulent 85 million US dollar claim, pay the outstanding 500,000 US dollars owed to the contractor, and complete the remaining 2 percent of work on the hospital without further delay.
