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The 2024 manifesto of the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), touted its achievements in infrastructural investments across various sectors of the Ghanaian economy during its tenure between 2012-2016.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified some of the claims in the areas of healthcare, maritime, and shipping and presents the facts below.
Claim 1: “Delivered infrastructural investments across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Among these were: A world-class and only quaternary hospital in West Africa, the University of Ghana Medical Centre”
Verdict: False
Explanation: While UGMC is a quaternary hospital in West Africa, other hospitals like the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, Hôpital Principal de Dakar, and University College Hospital, Ibadan, also provide significant quaternary services.
The World Health Organisation describes a hospital as a quaternary if it offers highly specialized medical care such as advanced diagnostics, complex surgeries (e.g. organ transplant, neurosurgery), and cutting-edge treatments (e.g., oncology, cardiovascular surgery). The UGMC is explicitly designed to provide ultra-specialized care, including neurosurgery, organ transplants, advanced oncology, and cutting-edge diagnostics. It is a research-driven facility, with an emphasis on medical innovation and specialization. According to reports, its affiliation with the University of Ghana enhances its capacity for quaternary-level medical research and care. It specializes in Neurology, cardiology, oncology, organ transplants and advanced diagnostics.
Below are other hospitals in West Africa that provide quaternary services.
Here in Ghana, the largest tertiary hospital, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), is reportedly the largest hospital in West Africa , with a broad range of specialized services. However, it is primarily a tertiary care facility, with some departments—such as the Cardiothoracic Center, Plastic Surgery and Burns Center, and Radiotherapy Unit—offering quaternary-level care. Its role is more focused on general tertiary healthcare for a large population, rather than ultra-specialized quaternary services. It also addresses special cardiothoracic surgery, burns and oncology.
In Anglophone West Africa, Nigeria boasts two quaternary hospitals. First is the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan which offers a wide range of specialised services in cardiology, oncology, and neurosurgery. Its distinction reportedly as a teaching and research hospital positions it well for quaternary care, especially in complex surgeries and oncology. It specialises on cardiology, oncology, neurosurgery and radiotherapy.
Another hospital in Nigeria which provides quaternary services is the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). The hospital provides advanced tertiary and quaternary services, including cardiac surgery, oncology, and neurosurgery. While it has a larger capacity, its level of ultra-specialization is slightly lower than UGMC or Hôpital Principal de Dakar.
In Senegal, Hôpital Principal de Dakar is known for highly specialized services in cardiovascular surgery, oncology, and neurology. It serves as a referral centre for advanced medical cases in West Africa, offering quaternary-level care in trauma, heart surgery, and cancer treatment. It specialises in cardiovascular surgery, oncology, trauma care, and neurology.
From the evidence above, the UGMC is not the only quaternary facility in West Africa.
Claim 2: “Delivered infrastructural investments across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Among these were: state-of-the-art institutions (Bank of Ghana hospital, etc.)”
Verdict: False
Explanation: According to Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the project began as the Bank Clinic in 1987. In 2012, the General Services Department and the Medical Department conducted a Needs Assessment, which laid the groundwork for developing a hospital for the Bank. Following a competitive tender process in 2013, the Bank signed a Design and Build Contract with Universal Hospitals Group (UHG) for the construction of a 65-bed hospital on its property in East Cantonments. The project, which cost approximately 80 million Euros, commenced in April 2014.
Dr. Addison noted that in 2017, a new management team took over the Bank due to a change in government. This new management inherited three projects at various stages of completion, including the hospital. They completed the remaining work, and the hospital began operations in 2020 and was officially commissioned in 2021.
While the hospital was constructed during the tenure of the Mahama administration, Fact-Check Ghana found no official parliamentary or government documents supporting the claim that the former president was responsible for building the facility. (Fact-Check Ghana has previously fact-checked this claim. Read more on it here).
Claim 3: “Delivered infrastructural investments across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Among these were: state-of-the-art institutional (Maritime hospital, etc.)”
Verdict: False
Explanation: The International Maritime Hospital was constructed by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) in 2016 and began operations in 2017. The 130-bed facility was built at a cost of $23 million, funded through GPHA’s internally generated funds (IGF) (here, here, and here). During a visit to inspect the facility, former President John Mahama remarked:
“As you know, Government has been investing a lot of money in healthcare… but you are aware that Government cannot do it alone. There’s a limitation to the resources we have and therefore when organisations like GPHA put this kind of investment to improve the healthcare in the maritime area here in Tema, it compliments the effort of Government.”
Clearly,it is evident that the construction of the hospital was funded by the GPHA and not by the John Mahama administration.
Claim 4: “Delivered infrastructural investments across all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Among these were: Tema Port expansion project that has made Tema Harbour the largest port in the sub-region”
Verdict: False
Explanation: Fact-Check Ghana previously flagged the claim that Tema Port is the largest port in West Africa as false. The Port of Lagos in Nigeria holds the title of the largest port in the sub-region, both in terms of size and cargo volume. The Lagos port spans approximately 1,793 hectares (4,431 acres) and handles over 80 million metric tons of cargo and 1.5 million TEUs annually. The Tema Port in Ghana spans about 3.9 million square meters (approximately 963 acres) and handles around 17 million metric tons of cargo each year, with container traffic reaching about 900,000 TEUs annually.
Based on the above, the NDC’s claim that the expansion project at the Tema Harbour made it the largest port in the sub-region is false. (Fact-Check Ghana has previously fact-checked this claim. Read more on it here).
