The contractor building the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) Mother and Baby Unit is waiting for outstanding payments, with stored construction materials deteriorating and some warranties at risk of expiring.
Emmanuel Danso, Liaison Officer for Contracta, said the continuing delays had prevented the company from restarting full-scale construction at the facility in Kumasi.
Speaking on the Ghanakoma morning show on Akoma 87.9fm in Kumasi with Sir John on Thursday, October 15,2026, Mr Danso said some materials bought for the project had already become defective or expired. Others, he warned, could lose their warranty protection while work remained suspended.
“The suspension is as a result of non-payment to the contractor,” he said, adding that the company was awaiting payment before returning to the site.
The project has been suspended for some months after an earlier period of reduced activity caused by delays in payments to Contracta. Mr Danso said the contractor had continued to maintain the site during the stoppages, but the lack of payment was undermining attempts to complete the hospital and safeguard investments already made.
He said the situation was affecting the overall progress of the work, as payments for construction already completed had not been honoured.
The Mother and Baby Unit project began in November 2019. It was initially intended to complete an existing hospital structure designed to accommodate about 850 beds.
However, an assessment carried out after Contracta took over the site identified serious structural defects in the building. Three other firms, alongside the Ghana Institution of Engineers, were then brought in to examine the structure and recommend the way forward.
Their assessment found that repairing the existing building would not be economically advisable. The decision was therefore taken to demolish it and redesign the project.
The scheme was subsequently changed to a 509-bed hospital. Contracta was given responsibility for demolishing the old structure while also constructing the replacement facility.
The project was valued at €138.5M, although Mr Danso said the repeated suspensions had increased the costs involved.
It is being delivered through a design-and-build contract, under which the contractor is responsible for designing and constructing the hospital, equipping it and eventually handing it over. The contract also includes training personnel.
Mr Danso said Contracta had already purchased a range of materials and equipment, including air-conditioning systems, electrical components and facade materials needed to enclose the building.
But the extended stoppage has raised concerns about the condition and future usability of items kept in storage. He said the delays could also weaken the warranties meant to protect both the project and its eventual users.
Some of the materials have fixed warranty periods, he explained, so prolonged delays before installation and commissioning could reduce the protection remaining when the hospital eventually becomes operational.
