The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has urged government appointees to discharge their duties as expected of them to justify their place in the governance process as well as the confidence reposed in them by the President, John Dramani Mahama.
“Whatever mandate that you have been given, you must remember that the entire nation has been placed in your hands.
Therefore, you must work hard to deliver on your mandate,” he stated.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu said the President could not directly oversee every sector of the Ghanaian economy, stressing that “that is why he has appointed some of you into various positions.
The onus lies on you to work hard towards the transformation of the country”.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu made the remarks when the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, led a delegation to brief him on key progress and reforms within Ghana’s health sector.
His briefing centred on the free primary healthcare Policy and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (GMTF), also known as MahamaCares, and ongoing efforts to address the backlog of over 100,000 unemployed health workers as inherited by the current administration.
Mr Akandoh was accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene; the Administrator of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, Obuobia Darko-Opoku; the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Samuel Akoriyea, among others.
The Asantehene said the ministerial appointments were for the appointees to serve to improve the living conditions of the people, stressing that “if you distinguish yourself, your name will be etched in the minds of Ghanaians”.
He, however, cautioned them to be careful about fair-weather friends who might come their way in the performance of their duties, and urged them to be vigilant at all times in order not for them to put them into trouble.
Abandoned projects
The Asantehene underscored the need for successive governments to make conscious efforts to continue development projects and interventions inherited to the benefit of all Ghanaians.
He said “if every new government after assuming office commits to the completion of inherited projects, it will ensure that the projects are put to good use which will fast-track the progress of the nation”.
“Undoubtedly, a lot of funds are injected into development projects, and if they are abandoned, it will not augur well for the country.
The Government will be compelled to contract additional loan and spend more funds to complete such projects due to neglect,” he added.
Key interventions
In his briefing, Mr Akandoh said the government since assuming office had introduced key interventions, including the Free Primary Healthcare Policy and the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, to expand access to healthcare delivery.
Particularly, he mentioned that nations that had achieved universal health coverage (UHC) heavily invested in free primary health care, and that the government would invest in the policy towards expanding access to health services.
The minister added that the free primary healthcare intervention had been introduced to complement the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and gave an assurance that more items and equipment would be procured to retool health facilities to provide the needed services under the policy.
Agenda III
Mr Akandoh said although GH¢4.8 billion had already been spent on the inherited Agenda 111 projects of new hospital constructions, none of them was fully completed and operationalised, and added that the government had selected 35 of them to be completed, including the ones at Trede and Oforikrom in the Ashanti Region.
On the Sewua Hospital, designed to be a regional health facility for the Ashanti Region, he said the road to the facility was currently being fixed, along with the extension of electricity and water to the facility, and said “I am hopeful that the President will commission it during his next visit to the region”.
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