After 44 years of neglect: Work on KATH Maternity Block reactivated

After 44 years of waiting, the abandoned Maternity and Children’s Block at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is back on track.

On Friday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod for the reactivation of the project and said the work would be carried out within 36 months, and gave an assurance that financing for the project had been fully secured with a 155-million Euro facility from the Deutsche Bank.

Started in 1976 by the National Redemption Council (NRC) government, headed by then Colonel I.K. Acheampong, the project was stalled in 1979 but was reactivated in 1999 during the administration of Jerry John Rawlings, but it could not be completed.

Facilities

When completed, the 750-bed facility will serve as a referral centre for 12 out of the 16 regions in the country.

Among other things, it will have an emergency reception for children and pregnant women, 10 theatres, intensive care units, an In-vitro Fertilisation (IVF) Unit, a breastfeeding centre, a Paediatric Surgery Unit, a pharmacy, a dedicated medical oxygen plant, lecture halls, a cafeteria, a gift shop and a bank.

According to the project specifications, the facility would be one of the most modern women and children’s medical facilities in the world.

Kufuor administration

President Akufo-Addo said during the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor in 2004, the project saw some life being injected into it until that government left office.

He said since the exit of the Kufuor administration, no work had been done on the project until last year when the government secured full funding from the Deutsche Bank of Germany, with the assistance of the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF).

“I am very happy to be in Kumasi today, the virus notwithstanding, to cut the sod for work to begin finally to complete this ultra-modern Maternity and Children’s Block,” he said.

Genesis

Giving further insight into the history of the facility, the Chief Executive of KATH, Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso, said after the initial work was stalled in 1979, the administration of President Rawlings, in 1999, decided to continue the project and had to pull down the earlier structure due to its weak infrastructural integrity.

According to him, after the exit of the Rawlings administration, the Kufuor administration redesigned the project and expanded it after a piece of the adjoining military land was released for the purpose following the intervention of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and President Kufuor. 

“This facilitated the accommodation of the expanded design of a new six-storey, three-tower structure which we see standing uncompleted today.

“From 2004, the pace of work on the project proceeded at a commendable speed to the state we see today, until payment for work done stopped following a change in government in 2008. Due to the failure of the government of Ghana to release funds for the project from then, work on it could not proceed as expected,” he said.

“This project is expected to revolutionise the provision of maternal and paediatric care in this part of the country and make the hospital a formidable centre of excellence in the training of specialist health professionals in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa.

“The hospital has a significant trainee population from Africa, especially from our sub-region of West Africa,” he added.

Government commended

Dr Owusu-Danso expressed the gratitude of the management of the hospital to the government for the reactivation of the works, which would see the expansion of facilities at the hospital.

“We are delighted beyond measure because this is the day that we thought would never come, but for the last couple of months under your Presidency. For a project whose initial sod-cutting ceremony was done in 1976, as a hospital, we have been dreaming about the completion and use of the Maternity and Children’s Block for an incredible 44 long years,” he said.

SDGs

President Akufo-Addo said as co-Chair of the Group of Eminent Advocates of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs), the finalisation of the Maternity and Children’s Block of KATH was very dear to his heart.

“It will have a positive impact on our country’s drive towards achieving the SDG targets on maternal and child health,” he submitted.

Deficiency

According to the President, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the deficiency in the country’s public health system and revealed the unequal distribution of healthcare structures around the country.

He said the government was committed to providing access to health care for every Ghanaian, irrespective of his or her location, saying that “every Ghanaian is entitled to good health and good health care”.