Franklin Cudjoe, president of the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sell the site of the controversial National Cathedral.

Cudjoe suggests that the proceeds from this sale, estimated to be worth US$58 million, be used for completing essential hospital projects across the country.

Cudjoe's recommendation comes amid growing concerns about the slow progress of the Agenda 111 initiative, a flagship program inaugurated by President Akufo-Addo in August 2021.

He emphasized the need to prioritize the completion of key healthcare infrastructure projects over other endeavours.

He criticized the government's approach of allocating resources thinly across all 111 hospitals, comparing it to the unfinished National Cathedral project.

"The Health Minister should do the commissioning. Nana should focus on properly completing 15 out of the 111 District hospitals before his tenure ends. He requires $1.5 billion to complete 70% of Agenda 111. Pray for him, as finding that money in this tight economy will be difficult without a stroke of luck or a lottery win.

"Which is why whatever he has now should be used to properly complete 15 to 20 of these hospitals instead of allocating it thinly across all 111 and leaving them resembling the ungodly and unsightly Cathedral site. Also, can he allow auctioneers to sell his man-made wonder, the Cathedral site, to art collectors? We could get money to help complete at least one district hospital.

"P.S. My friend Kofi Tonto reminds me that the Health Minister is a designated nominee of the president, pending approval by Parliament, so he can't commission the project.

"Well, I still think the designated nominee remains the CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority, doesn't he? If not, then a deputy health minister should do the commissioning," he said in a Facebook post.



AM/SARA

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