Awerco Construction Limited, the contractor working on the Weija-Gbawe Children’s Hospital project, has threatened legal action against the Ministry of Health, demanding an immediate retraction of a press statement it says unfairly blames the company for delays in operationalising the facility.
In a letter dated May 8, 2026, lawyers for the company accused the ministry of publishing “inaccuracies and misrepresentations” that could damage its reputation and business interests.
The dispute stems from a Ministry of Health press release issued on May 5, 2026, titled “Operationalisation of the Weija Paediatric Hospital”, which reportedly alleged procurement irregularities, including inflated prices of medical equipment said to be up to 11 times their actual cost.
Awerco Construction Limited has rejected the allegations, describing them as unfounded and insisting that no evidence has been provided to support the claims.
“Our Client has been wrongly portrayed as being responsible for the Ministry’s inability to commission and operationalise the Weija Paediatric Hospital,” the lawyers stated.
The company further argued that concerns allegedly raised by the World Bank were never communicated to it and maintained that it had fulfilled all its contractual obligations under the project.
According to the letter, Awerco has repeatedly written to the ministry over the past year seeking payment of outstanding obligations, but says it has not received a response.
The contractor also disputed claims that it halted the commissioning process.
“Contrary to the impression created by your press release, our Client never stated in its letter that it had halted the process of commissioning of the facility,” the letter said.
It explained that its correspondence only raised concerns about contractual handover procedures and stressed the need for essential protective systems, including uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units and automatic voltage regulators, to safeguard sensitive medical equipment.
Awerco maintained that the absence of such systems could damage equipment and disrupt hospital operations. It also alleged that delays in settling outstanding payments had affected mandatory end-user training required before the facility could be officially handed over.
“Failure to undertake such training poses an additional risk to the project and to potential patients, as critical medical equipment may not be operated properly,” the letter added.
The company further questioned why the ministry would seek to operationalise the hospital if it believed procurement prices had been grossly inflated.
Awerco Construction has demanded a retraction of portions of the ministry’s statement within 24 hours, warning that it has instructed its lawyers to pursue all available legal remedies should the ministry fail to comply.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com