According to Sammy Gyamfi, the Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the only Ghanaian president in history who has not built a hospital.
Sammy Gyamfi claims all major hospitals being used in the fight against the novel coronavirus are the legacies of former President Mahama, who served a four-year term as president of Ghana.
The comments by Sammy Gyamfi resurrected controversies which followed after Health Minister, Kweku Agyeman Manu indicated in a press briefing earlier this month that, the Bank of Ghana Hospital would be used to treat VIP coronavirus patients and staff of the bank.
Though the minister clarified his statement as regards the use of the hospital after several backlashes, the NDC seem unmoved by clarifications, so far.
Sammy Gyamfi further suggested that the Akufo-Addo-led administration has made a name for itself with its incessant borrowing but the idea of putting up a hospital has never been a reason for such borrowing.
In a tweet, sighted by www.maxfmlive.com , the NDC communicator said “Despite his unprecedented borrowings, President Akufo-Addo will go down as the only President in Ghana’s history who hasn’t built a single hospital. Yet, he intends to use The Bank hospital built by @JDMahama exclusively for VIP COVID-19 cases. Unacceptable! #GodBlessJM.”
“#ButForJM where would we have been on COVID19? #GodBlessJM”, he asked rhetorically in another tweet.
Per data available to him and the NDC, all the policies and programmes the Akufo-Addo-led administration has initiated in the fight against the coronavirus is hinged on the infrastructural investments of the Mahama administration.
So far, the main hospitals being used as treatment centres for coronavirus patients across the country are the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge), University of Ghana Medical Centre, and the Bank of Ghana Hospital.
In a related development, Abdul-Malik Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, has raised doubts about the authenticity of claims by the opposition NDC that the hospital in question is indeed a legacy of the erstwhile Mahama administration.