The Outgoing President Mahama and his government among their purportedly numerous infrastructural developments across the length and breadth of Ghana most of which turned out to be complete farce, started constructing buildings for an intended new government hospital or polyclinic in Kumawu in the Ashanti region. This is a good idea and credible initiative by an otherwise most corrupt and incompetent President in the annals of Ghana’s politics.
From a reliable information that reached me while I was in Ghana but time not being on my side to proceed to Kumawu to conduct investigations into the allegation, the hospital buildings are structurally defective right from their foundational levels.
The bible even acknowledges that any house built on sand but not on solid rock, will not be able to withstand the tempest when the wind blows but it will collapse; falling flat on to the ground.
What then is the problem, or are the problems, associated with the ongoing construction of the Kumawu hospital buildings? From the information carried to me by one of my reliable if not the most reliable confidant in Ghana, all the exterior walls of the buildings except probably the only one storey building among them, are built with shockingly low cost and completely substandard material never used anywhere in the construction of office/public blocks let alone, hospital buildings, where all sorts of patients of varied degrees of illnesses would attend for treatment. Some patients can be calm and amenable, others can be violent and destructive.
The exterior walls are all understood to be built with that type of “foam protection” but jet-sprayed with cement on both sides. These materials are those used to protect delicate objects like mirrors, computers and all other expensive furniture from damages during packaging, transport and delivery to their final destinations and purchasers.
“Foam Protection: Kite Packaging stock a wide range of foam products to protect and cushion your goods ready for storage or shipping. From foam rolls, foam corner protectors and pre-lined foam boxes, we can provide all the foam protection products you require to safely package your goods”. This little quoted explanation may point readers to what I mean as the material being used to construct the exterior walls of the Kumawu hospital buildings. Any aggressive or violent patient can give the wall a fist or foot knock and there will be seen a visibly gaping hole through the wall.
Such materials like plaster boards and what is being used presently for the exterior walls as mentioned can only be used for the internal partition walls but not the external walls that require solid materials in the form of cement blocks, bricks or concretes. Being an electrician with knowledge of construction works and other aspects of European structural building requirements, what is going on at Kumawu hospital if they are truly as communicated to me is absurdity and financial loss to the State at its highest.
The contractors, the architects and those who awarded the contract must be investigated and prosecuted if it turns out that the exterior walls of the hospital walls were, or have been, built with foams jet-sprayed with cement or cement pellets. Building exterior walls of hospitals in that manner does not conform to international or national standards. I am not talking about fence walls around the entire hospital facility but the actual individual exterior building walls.
Kumawu does not lie in the path of periodical cyclone/hurricane like in certain parts of America where buildings are built with wood to prevent major destruction to human lives when the yearly destructive hurricane or cyclone hits.
I was told a similar hospital has been built in either the Volta region or the Krobo area of the Eastern region which I am not certain of. Could all these be investigated and any such ongoing works stopped temporarily pending further investigations? Cement jet-sprayed foams should never be used to build exterior walls of hospitals anywhere in Ghana.
Manufactured concrete slabs can be assembled to put up houses and can equally be dismantled as and when the occasion arises. I could see such houses built in Lagos in the Ipaja-Idimu estate areas during the early 1980s. I can still see pre-fabricated concrete slabs used to build multi-storey office and housing accommodation floor-partitioning in Europe.
How can I call myself a proud son of Kumawu or Asiampa or Ghana if the good things I learn abroad are not made available to my country and people of Ghana to benefit from? I am not selfish, greedy, and would not want people to kowtow to me before drinking freely from my overflowing fountain of wisdom hence always socialising with people regardless of their status and also sharing my views in the public domain for whosoever want to benefit from them.
Stay tuned for more info from the proud son of Kumawu and Juaben-Asiampa. Could all my fans and the public help me carry my big thank you to Julie and her sons and daughter for looking after me, feeding me, and constantly contacting me on the phone to check on my health as I was not at all well when I went to Ghana to campaign for Nana Akufo Addo and NPP to come to power. They are in my good books and I pray God Almighty richly blesses them and replenishes whatever they might have lost on me – kindness, finances, time and energy. Amen.
They made my short stay in Ghana very enjoyable. I also remember the good things done to me by Kofi Basoah; sorting out my laptop for me and always being on my side to assist as and when I saw it fit. Kwaku Osei, Joe Diggie, Joyce, Theresa, Oliver et al were all great to me. What about my two Saviour Church of Ghana spiritual prophets? They did a marvellous job that I shall never forget. I say, God bless both of you and continue to shower His abundant mercies and blessings upon you.
As promised, and as long as God Almighty grants me safety and protection and long good health, the Kumawu chieftaincy case is next on my agenda until justice is done to the people of Kumawuman. There is no two ways about me not fulfilling this resolute determination of mine.