Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, is calling on Ghanaians to pat the government on the shoulder for delivering on its promises, specifically in the health sector, where he says they inherited huge debts.
He notes the previous administration bequeathed a debt of 12.68 billion Ghana cedis at the time they took over.
During his turn at the Government Accountability Series in Accra on Friday, July 18, 2025, the Minister listed a series of programmes and projects the government inherited and is delivering on them amid the challenges caused by these debts.
“When we took office, we inherited a Ministry of Health burdened with a staggering debt of nearly 12.68 billion Ghana cedis; this included unpaid bills to service providers, arrears to donor partners, and outstanding payments to contractors. Despite this, we have not wavered in our commitment to deliver,” he indicated.
Akandoh added that the Ministry “also inherited the much-touted Agenda 111 programme, which, despite an investment of $344 million, had not completed and operationalised a single hospital. Worse still, it left behind over 1 billion Ghana cedis in arrears for us to settle.”
But the Member of Parliament for Juaboso in the Western North region explained that the government, amid the debts, did not assume responsibility to make excuses but to deliver. The reason he indicates, they are delivering on the mandate given them.
“But we are not here to dwell on excuses. We are here to deliver.”
He stressed on some of the promises the government made on the health sector which it is delivering on, including: “Strengthening service delivery by expanding access to free, quality primary healthcare that prioritises disease prevention” and “Tackling non-communicable diseases through initiatives like the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (MahamaCares).”
Akandoh further highlighted on the administration’s pledge on leadership and governance enhancement by:
- reforming health financing
- developing local pharmaceutical production, and
- Improving the management of our health institutions — steps we are actively implementing.
He also reemphasised the need to improve the professional development of health sector workers to ensure proper healthcare delivery for Ghanaians.
“We believe that compromising on the need for motivated and skilled health workers is not an option. Therefore, we have promised and are implementing policies for their professional development.”
He further shed light on the need to invest in health infrastructure to “build a healthier Ghana.”
“Additionally, our investments in healthcare infrastructure, manufacturing, and traditional medical research are progressing well.”
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