Former Health Minister Dr Bernard Okoe Boye has disputed claims that the Akufo-Addo administration demolished the La General Hospital and left the site without making progress on its reconstruction.
He said the project had already reached a visible stage by the time the New Patriotic Party (NPP) left office, with the new structure rising above the perimeter wall.
Okoe Boye made the remarks while responding to what he described as claims that the previous government pulled down the hospital without laying even a single block.
“The NDC is so skilled at propaganda that they’ve put it in the minds of the coastal people that by the time Akufo-Addo left, he broke down the hospital and didn’t put even a block,” he said on Metro TV.
He insisted that people could see the progress for themselves by driving past the site.
“By the time we left office, La General was above the wall. When you are driving past La General, you see the structure now above,” he added.
Okoe Boye also argued that the current administration should be allowed to continue the project without dismissing the work already done by its predecessor.
He pointed to the Greater Accra Health Service Claims Processing Centre, another project he said he helped facilitate on land belonging to the Ghana Health Service near the La General site.
According to him, he negotiated with the Ghana Health Service to replace an old two-bedroom office building on the nearly two-acre land with a modern multi-storey facility.
He said workers occupying the old building were relocated to suitable apartments for two to three years before the demolition took place.
Okoe Boye praised Dr Victor Bampoe for continuing work on the claims processing centre after he left office and helping move it towards completion.
He urged the government to give credit to those who initiated projects, even when another administration continues and completes them.
“It’s a good thing to continue a project. Don’t bastardise it,” he said.
