Franklin Cudjoe, founder and President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, is urging the President to sell the US$58 million National Cathedral hole to art collectors.
He says selling off the hole considered to be the most expensive in the world, can help the completion of one of the Agenda 111 hospital projects.
Mr. Cudjoe’s comment come on the back of an advice he was giving the President to concentrate on fully completing at least 15 out of the 111 projects, rather than touching all in bits and pieces and leaving them uncompleted like the infamous National Cathedral project.
On July 29, 2021, former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced that the project was on track and would be ready before the 2024 general elections. In his words, completing and commissioning the controversial National Cathedral would coincide with the country’s Independence Day in 2024, March 6. But the project was still at the foundation stage as at the time it was bound to be commissioned.
This, is why Franklin Cudjoe is advising the President to avoid, regarding the Agenda 111 project.
“…also, can he allow auctioneers to sell his man-made wonder Cathedral hole to art collectors? We can get money to help complete at least one district hospital,” he said on his Facebook whilst suggesting to the President to concentrate on completing fully 15 out of the 111 hospitals.
The Agenda 111 initiative, inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2021, aims to among other things, construct a total of 111 district hospitals throughout the country to improve access to healthcare.
Most of the facilities are targeted at improving healthcare in rural areas. The project is expected to be completed by 2025, coinciding with the end of President Akufo-Addo’s second term.
As of October 2023, the government had announced that over 89 hospitals have reached an average of 52% completion.
Meanwhile, with barely seven months to the end of the President’s term of office, not even 15 of the 111 hospitals have been fully completed.
Mr. Cudjoe is therefore urging the President to ensure that he at least complete 15 of these projects fully before leaving office.
Baring the economic conditions however, the IMANI boss thinks it requires only a miracle for the President to secure US$1.5billion to complete 15 of the hospitals.
Franklin Cudjoe, in a Facebook post, was reacting to a story in the media about the Urology and Nephrology Centre of Excellence at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to be commissioned by the President. It was his view that the President concentrates on more pertinent things such as securing funds to complete some of the Agenda 111 project than commissioning units in an already existing hospital. He said such could be handled by the Minister of Health.
“Health Minister should do the commissioning. Nana should focus on completing, PROPERLY, 15 out of the 111 District hospitals before he ends his tenure. He needs $1.5bn to achieve 70% of Agenda 111. Pray for him because unless magic or lottery, that money in this tight economy will be difficult to find. Which is why what ever he has now, should be used in completing 15 to 20 of these hospitals PROPERLY instead of spreading thinly on all 111 and leave them looking like the ungodly and ugly Cathedral site,” portions of his post indicated.
