Former Health Minister Dr Bernard Okoe Boye has urged the government to sign a memorandum of understanding with contractors handling the Weija Paediatric Hospital project to allow the facility to become operational despite ongoing payment challenges.
According to him, authorities must adopt urgent and practical measures to ensure the fully completed hospital begins serving the public instead of remaining idle over unresolved financial issues.
Speaking on What The Papers Are Saying on Channel One TV on Thursday, May 7, Dr Okoe Boye explained that delays in settling payment certificates owed to contractors have become the main obstacle preventing the official handover of the facility.
He stated that the Ministry of Health has yet to complete some payment processes linked to the project’s World Bank funding arrangement, making it difficult for contractors to release the hospital for operation.
To address the situation, the former minister proposed two immediate options, including direct engagement with the World Bank to resolve disputes and fast-track payments to contractors.
He suggested that signing a memorandum of understanding would assure contractors that the government remains committed to settling all outstanding obligations while allowing healthcare services to begin at the hospital.
“These are the two recommendations to get the facility operational. Either we expedite processes on paying the contractor or engage the contractor and sign an MoU to commit ourselves so that they can open the facility,” he stated.
The fully equipped 120-bed Weija Paediatric Hospital was completed in 2025 and is expected to ease pressure on existing healthcare facilities by serving as a major referral centre for child healthcare in the Weija-Gbawe area and surrounding communities.
The calls for immediate action follow protests by residents on May 5, demanding the commissioning and opening of the hospital for public use.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health, through its spokesperson Tony Goodman, has attributed delays in operationalising the facility to concerns raised by the World Bank regarding aspects of the project.
