“A bird in hand is worth twice in the bush” is a very popular idiomatic expression.
To ensure that I have the understanding right, I googled it. Here is what I found; “it is better to hold on to something one has, than to risk losing it by trying to get something better.”
Besides being an idiom, in my considered opinion, it underscores the importance of strategic thinking which obliges one to always ask the question- What if? Among Gas, we have a proverb which has a similar meaning- You don’t lay a bed, if you have not seen a woman. What if…
Somehow, the entire Management of the Ministry of Health did not know about the import of these wise sayings when they decided to demolish the then thriving La General Hospital.
The bird in hand
Yes. Thriving because the place was useable despite the so-called structural integrity challenges that were adduced as reason for its demolition.
Therefore, the argument has been made that instead of a total demolition of the health facility, a phased approach could have been adopted in order not to deny the people of La and its surrounding communities, access to healthcare as is the case now. Before it was demolished, the hospital served patients from Osu, La, Teshie, and other areas along the coastal belt of Accra.
I personally had the opportunity of visiting the facility on three separate occasions- two of them were to visit relatives who had accessed healthcare and one was for official duty as the PRO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. I can therefore attest to the structural issues that warranted the demolition.
However, if the wise sayings aforementioned are anything to go by, one would have expected the Ministry of Health and its agents to have employed some strategic thinking. Some refurbishment or reinforcement of the structures on one side of the huge compound could have been done to keep it operational while work progressed on the new edifice.
There is no doubt that it would have affected the pace of work. But it is strategic thinking to ask the ‘What if?’ question, because unforeseen situations always happen. This approach was used in building the new Ridge Hospital and it worked perfectly. Today, some of the ‘colonial’ wards at the Ridge Hospital are still there and in use.
This is what the MP for Odododiodioo, Hon. Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye does not seem to understand. Speaking in an interview on Ghana Tonight on TV3 earlier this week, he alluded to the idiomatic expression mentioned earlier and wondered why the phased approach was not employed.
“You could handle those parts that had suffered cracks first, while you maintain the other structures which were okay. So that partial services could be offered at the hospital. But the government as usual didn’t listen to anybody and went ahead and brought it to ground zero,” he complained.
Obviously, this government does not seem to like the phased approach. The National Cathedral project is another example of how not to ask What if? We demolished booming businesses and habitable homes to build a house for God, without placing our hands on where the funding will come from. Now, all we have is what some have described as the most expensive hole in the world.
The two birds in the bush
The managers of the La General hospital are said to have reported the structural problems to their mother ministry in 2015. Subsequently, in July 2020, the edifice was demolished. This was after CSENG Consult, a reputable Civil and Structural Engineering firm in Accra had conducted an assessment.
The sod-cutting ceremony for the reconstruction of the hospital was done on August 10, 2020 with pump and pageantry. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was at hand to cut the sod.
The project was estimated at €68 million. The promise was a 160-bed facility with an outpatient department; inpatient wards; maternity and neonatal services; surgical unit with four theatres; accident and emergency department; public health department; pharmacy unit; laboratory; administration; imaging area, with CT scan, X-ray room, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, mammography units; physiotherapy unit; and a mortuary. Impressive! If you ask me.
Unfortunately, what my Ga elders cautioned against, happened- the woman failed to turn up, after the bed had been laid and adorned with lighted sweet-scented candles and red roses. That is to say, Government’s plans suffered a setback as Sinosure, the Chinese Company mandated to insure the loan for the project, started conducting their due diligence on the project.
It took over two years and intense diplomatic discussions before Sinosure gave the green light for the loan to be insured to enable the project proceed. Since then, other reasons have been adduced for the continued lull in the project.
The Minister for Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu in March 2022 explained that the rebuilding of the La General Hospital halted as a result of Covid-19. However, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Health Committee, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh alleged that the government has misapplied the €68m allocated for the project.
Nii Lantey Vanderpuiye has his version of the cause of delay. “Their whole pretence was to con the La Dade Kotopon Constituency people to vote for them, because they are coming to give them hospital. Because the La people did not vote for them, that is the reason why they have refused, they have failed and they have intentionally reneged on their promise to rebuild the hospital,” he explained.
Enter the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, “Mr. Speaker, what has happened is that after the engagement with the IMF, funding from those sources that Parliament approved of, the funding has been withheld by the sponsors. Mr. Speaker, until the nation is given a clean bill of health by the IMF, it is going to be difficult for the funding to be released. This is why the government now wants to situate it within the context of Agenda 111, and that will mean that the facility will have to be scaled down a bit.”
Scaled down? To the level of the demolished structure? Truly, a bird in hand is worth twice in the bush. Upon hearing this sad news, the MP for the area (La Dade Kotopon Constituency), Hon. Rita Naa Odoley Sowah was as shocked as I was.
“I was surprised on the floor of Parliament yesterday when the Majority Leader said that due to lack of funding, government may not be able to complete the La General Hospital anytime soon. Meanwhile, several ministers have promised us dates to finish the project which never came to pass”.
“It was also captured in last year’s budget. Even with that, it was captured at a small place in the budget under Agenda 111 and I know under the Agenda 111, we do have regional hospitals. So, now what is happening?” she wondered.
It looks like Madam Odoley would have to wonder for a while longer. That’s because the Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. K.T. Hammond says government decided on Thursday, November 9, 2023 that the hospital will be reconstructed per the new design. He added that money has been allocated by Mr Ofori-Atta for this purpose.
The question is, between Honourables Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and K.T. Hammond, who should we believe?
Any word from Ga chiefs?
In the campaign to have the La General Hospital rebuilt; I have heard the indigenes complain bitterly anytime TV3 news reporters go to them. At a point, they embarked on demonstration to press home their demand for the hospital to be reconstructed.
I have also heard from members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, especially Mr. Mintah Akandoh, who gets very emotional anytime he has to discuss this matter.
The MP for Odododiodioo, who I mentioned earlier, has sent a word to the Minister of Finance.
“I have served a warning through the Speaker to the Minister of Finance, that on the day that he will come to Parliament to read the budget, God should save him if he has La General Hospital captured under the projects. Other than that, he will not have the opportunity to present his budget. Because, I want to prove to them that they cannot sit on the land of the people of Ga- Adangbe and treat us with contempt,” he cautioned.
Madam Odoley Sowah also had this to say, “I will join the Member of Parliament for Odododiodio Constituency to picket Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health until the reconstruction of the hospital starts.”
So far, I have not heard from any Ga chief on this matter. I stand corrected if they have spoken. I know the La Mantsɛ, Nii Kpobi Tetteh Tsuru is dead. I have not read about his successor having been installed. So, who will speak for Lamɛi?
This is the time I expect our chiefs, as representatives of the people, to write or speak “without equivocation” in support of Lamɛi. However, not a word from Ga, Osu, Teshie, Nungua, Tema or Kpong Mantsɛmɛi. Not even the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs has found the need to comment on this issue.
Their loud silence, definitely leaves much to be desired. Especially when the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has launched the ‘Heal Komfo Anokye’ Fund to raise $10 million to refurbish Ghana’s second largest teaching hospital. What about us?
It’s time to go
A frustrated and bewildered, Madam Odoley Sowah has decided to do what Ga mothers do when their children are in distress, appeal to a fellow Ga mother, the First Lady Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo to intervene.
One can only hope that Mrs Akufo- Addo will be able to pull some strings to do for her own people, what she did for the residents of Kumasi few years ago. For those of you who do not know, or may have forgotten, Naa Okaikor was able to use her Rebecca Foundation to mobilise GHC10,000,000 for the construction of a new Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi in 2018.
Alternatively, she could engage President Akufo-Addo in a dawn chat with some romantic strokes around his bald head to engender the urgent release of funds to address this pertinent issue.
In the meantime, I would like to call on the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs and the Council of State to also put in a word to President Akufo-Addo on behalf of our compatriots in La. I know the Greater Accra Regional representative on the Council- Hon E.T. Mensah is late, but that should not mean that the rest of the members will not find the plight of Lamɛi worthy of redress.
It is heartwarming to note though, that the Coalition of La Youth Associations has outlined plans to mobilise resources for the construction of the La General Hospital because of the Majority Leader’s disclosure.
The spokesperson for the La Youth Association, Jeffery Tetteh said they will use contributions from the 90 clan houses in La together with support from Lamɛi in the diaspora to reconstruct the hospital.
Well, a stich in time, saves nine is another wisdom-laden idiomatic expression which means, “if you sort out a problem immediately, it may save you a lot of extra work later.”
Let those who have ears, hear!
Au Revoir – That’s goodbye in French.
The writer is the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Columnist of the Year- 2022. He is the author of two books whose contents share knowledge on how anyone desirous of writing like him can do so. Eric can be reached via email [email protected].