The Member of Parliament for Salaga North, Alhassan Mumuni, has called on the Ministry of Health to prioritise the completion of the stalled Agenda 111 hospital at Kpalbe in the North East Gonja District of the Savannah Region.
Mr Mumuni made the appeal after inspecting the project, saying residents were being forced to leave the district to access essential medical treatment because it had no district hospital.
“In the entire district, we don’t have a district hospital,” he said. “What we resort to is referring patients to Tamale and also to Salaga to secure health care.”
He urged Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh to include the Kpalbe facility among the 10 Agenda 111 hospitals selected for early completion.
The Minister announced in April that the government planned to finish 10 Agenda 111 hospitals by the end of 2026, with priority being given to projects that were closest to completion.
Mr Mumuni said Mr Akandoh had also assured Parliament that at least one hospital project in each region would be considered under the programme. He appealed for the North East Gonja facility to be included in that arrangement.
“I want to use this opportunity once again to appeal to the Ministry of Health to ensure that at least this project is considered under the first ten Agenda 111 projects that he intends to complete,” he said.
The MP said he was impressed by the progress already made at the site but questioned why the people of the district had yet to benefit from the investment.
“I am overwhelmed by the work that I have seen, but I think that we need to wake up and complete this project so that at least our people will benefit from it,” he said.
Mr Mumuni added that North East Gonja did not have a resident doctor. He attributed the shortage to the lack of suitable facilities and accommodation that could support the posting and retention of medical staff.
He said completing the hospital would improve primary healthcare delivery in the district and help strengthen maternal healthcare interventions under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama.
The MP also questioned the decision to distribute available resources among several hospital projects without ensuring that some were completed and opened for use.
He argued that a more concentrated approach to funding could have resulted in at least 30 functioning hospitals for communities, rather than leaving multiple projects incomplete.
Mr Mumuni said the inspection formed part of his parliamentary oversight duties, allowing him to monitor ongoing and abandoned projects in his constituency. He stressed that completing the Kpalbe hospital remained a priority for the people of North East Gonja.
