Weija Children’s Hospital handed over to government after months of public pressure

The contractor behind the long‑awaited Weija Children’s Specialist Hospital has officially handed over the completed facility to the Ministry of Health, ending years of construction and a protracted delay that had sparked street protests by local residents. Officials from the Ministry received the keys on Friday and immediately transferred custodianship to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), but the handover was clouded by unresolved financial issues and the absence of a clear operational timeline.

Sources close to the project confirmed that the government has not fully settled payments owed to the contractor, a factor that may have contributed to the extended standstill. Neither the Ministry of Health nor the GHS has announced a date for the hospital’s opening, and it remains unclear whether a management team has been constituted to run the facility. When contacted, a senior official at the GHS said only that “administrative processes are ongoing,” declining to elaborate.

The handover comes after months of mounting frustration among parents and residents in the Weija‑Gbawe municipality. In May 2026, hundreds of demonstrators marched to the hospital gates, demanding that the 120‑bed specialist centre—which had reportedly been structurally complete for more than a year—be made operational. The protest drew national attention and prompted the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, to intervene. Shortly after a meeting with the minister, the contractor was summoned by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for questioning, though the agency has not disclosed the nature of its inquiry.

The Weija Children’s Specialist Hospital was conceived as a flagship project to ease the burden on the ageing St. Louis Children’s Hospital in Accra, which has struggled with infrastructure decay and chronic overcrowding. Equipped with modern paediatric intensive care units, neonatal wards, and outpatient clinics, the new facility is designed to serve not only the Weija‑Gbawe constituency but also neighbouring communities in the Greater Accra Region, many of which currently lack access to specialised child healthcare.

The Member of Parliament for Weija‑Gbawe, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, has been a vocal advocate for the hospital’s immediate activation. Speaking at a separate forum on Friday, Shaib expressed dismay that the facility remained shuttered despite assurances from the Health Minister. “I don’t think we should still be playing politics with this facility,” he said. “It should be operationalised for people to use it. I had a word from the Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, that it has been operationalised, so I should pass by and see, but when I did, it was still closed.”

The MP’s remarks underscore a broader concern that the hospital’s fate has become entangled in political wrangling, with some observers questioning whether the government is prioritising the facility’s opening. The Ministry of Health has yet to issue a formal statement addressing the operational delay or the payment arrears, though insiders suggest that a high‑level meeting is scheduled for next week to resolve the impasse.

Once fully operational, the hospital is expected to provide comprehensive paediatric services, including emergency care, surgical procedures, and long‑term management of chronic childhood illnesses. Health advocates say its opening could significantly reduce mortality rates among children in the western corridor of Accra and ease the referral pressure on the Korle‑Bu Teaching Hospital.

For now, the hospital stands ready—its wards empty, its equipment installed—but the wait for a official opening date continues. Residents of Weija, who have watched the building rise over the past several years, are hoping that Friday’s handover is not merely a ceremonial gesture but a genuine step toward service delivery. As one local mother put it: “Our children have been waiting long enough. We need this hospital to work, not to gather dust.”