$217m UGMC: Good news coming on Friday – Agyemang-Manu

Campaigners for the opening of the $217 million University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) will soon hear some good news, Health Minister Kweku Agyemang-Manu has said.

“There is very very good news. When I was just facing you, the Minister of Information called me. He wants some good briefings from me and I think by Friday, we would have come out”, Mr Agyemang-Manu told the parliamentary press corps on Wednesday, 30 May.

The first phase of UGMC was inaugurated 18 months ago by the Mahama administration but the health post has remained idle since the Akufo-Addo government came into office.

A tussle over ownership between the university and the government, thwarted a planned opening of the facility in November 2017, prompting an online campaign for its use.

On Wednesday, 30 May, Reginald Sekyi-Brown, one of the campaigners, was arrested and detained for several hours by police after holding a placard in front of First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo with the inscription ‘Open UGMC Now’, while she delivered a speech at an event at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, ASP Effia Tenge, told Class91.3FM that Mr Sekyi-Brown was being investigated for interrupting the programme.

He has since been granted bail.