Claim: President Mahama commissioned UGMC on the even of his exit from office in 2017
Source: Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, former presidential advisor on health
Verdict: False
Researched by Alfa Shaban
Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, a former presidential advisor on health under the erstwhile Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has claimed the University of Ghana Medical Center (UGMC) was commissioned on January 6, 2017.
In an interview on Kumasi-based Oyerepa TV, Dr Nsiah-Asare while addressing criticism of Akufo-Addo commissioning hospital projects with days to his exit from office on January 7, 2025, said every president reserved the right to undertake their responsibilities for as long as they are in office. The project being discussed in the interview was the Sewua Hospital located in the Ashanti Region.
Nsiah-Asare said; “When the facility was commissioned on the 4th of January 2025, someone was asking why the president is exiting yet we are commissioning projects. “The University of Ghana Medical Center, President Mahama commissioned it on the 6th of January 2017. When at midnight he was due to handover, but he was still the president. Yes, he commissioned it on the 6th of January 2017, go and check.”
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Asked by the host that if it meant that the commissioning was done “barely 24 hours to handing over,” he responded: “Even if he commissioned it in the afternoon, that makes it less than 24 hours to his exit but he has the right to do that.”
This fact-check will ascertain whether the UGMC was commissioned on January 6, 2017.
Fact-check
GhanaFact ran an advanced Google search on the project and found three immediate sources of information.
1 – Archived page of UGMC website – The page contained a story on the commissioning of the facility in 2017. Even though it was published on January 6, 2017, it stated January 4 as the day of the commissioning.
The relevant paragraph read: “Phase 1 of University of Ghana Medical Centre has been commissioned by the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, on Wednesday 4th January 2017, at a well attended ceremony.”
2 – Corroborating news reports – GhanaFact also saw news reports about the then president’s commissioning of the facility. A GhanaWeb story affirmed that the event took place on January 4. Other outlets like the Daily Graphic and myjoyonline.com had stories to corroborate the date of commissioning.
3 – President Mahama refers to the date in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) – On January 5, 2017, the exiting president referenced the UGMC as a project as one started by his predecessor adding that he inaugurated the facility a day before his address (January 4.)
We also found a photo of Mahama unveiling the plaque at the event and it also had the January 4 date.
Verdict
The claim that UGMC was commissioned on January 6, 2017 is False.
