Nsiah Asare: Agenda 111 is not “job for boys”

The presidential advisor on health says Agenda 111 is an initiative under the Office of the President and as such has no coordinating offices at the presidency

Kent Mensah August 22, 2021

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Dr Nsiah Asare , presidential advisor on health — Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Presidential Advisor on Health

Dr Nsiah Asare, the Presidential advisor on health has refuted claims the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is creating jobs for party supporters through the creation of coordinating offices to facilitate the government’s flagship policy, Agenda 111, at the presidency.

His comments follow a statement by the minority in Parliament alleging that the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, is handpicking contractors for the award of contracts under the government’s Agenda 111 project.

Addressing the issue on The Big Bulletin with Asaase Radio’s Beatrice Adu, Dr Asare indicated the minority is making baseless claims because there are no coordinating offices for Agenda 111 at the Office of the President.

“Agenda 111 doesn’t have an office of coordination at the presidency. No. Agenda 111 is under the Office of the President. The president has an oversight responsibility because it is a flagship policy of the government,” he said.

Dr Asare challenged the minority to name a coordinator as evidence to their claims.

“Who are the team of coordinators, maybe if they can mention the name of one person then maybe we can discuss it. There is no team of coordinators at the presidency,” he stressed.

Budget allocation

Dr Asare also rejected claims that the government had already spent about $600 million on the project before a sod was cut.

“I am not aware of any six hundred and thirty-four million that has been spent on the project, maybe they would have to give us further and better particulars.”

It would be recalled that last week the Ministry of Finance rejected claims by the minority in Parliament suggesting that the government has already spent GHC 600 million on its flagship Agenda 111 project.

The Finance Ministry in a statement said the amount has been released into the project account but has not yet been utilised.

“The said amount had been released into the project account at the BoG but not utilised yet. Project commencement has just begun. So far, only GH£36million has been released as part of pre-construction mobilisation,” the statement added.