Awerco Construction Limited, the firm behind the Weija-Gbawe Children’s Hospital, has warned it will sue the Ministry of Health unless it withdraws a press statement that the company says wrongly pinned the delay in opening the facility on it.
In a letter dated May 8, 2026, the contractor’s lawyers said the ministry released “inaccuracies and misrepresentations” that could harm the firm’s reputation and commercial standing.
The row follows a May 5, 2026, Ministry of Health release titled “Operationalisation of the Weija Paediatric Hospital,” which reportedly cited procurement irregularities, including medical equipment priced up to 11 times their market value.
Awerco Construction Limited dismissed the claims as “unfounded,” arguing that no proof was offered to back them up.
“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 firm also said allegations said to have come from the World Bank were never relayed to it and insisted it had met all contractual duties under the project.
The letter noted that the contractor had sent multiple requests to the ministry in the past year for payment of outstanding sums but received no reply.
The company further rejected the assertion that it stopped the hospital’s 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.
Awerco clarified that it only flagged issues around handover procedures and advised the ministry to install key protective systems, including UPS units and Automatic Voltage Regulators, to protect sensitive medical devices.The contractor maintained that without such systems, equipment could be damaged and hospital operations compromised. It also claimed that delays in clearing payments had stalled mandatory end-user training needed 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.Awerco also questioned the logic of the ministry moving to open the hospital if it genuinely believed procurement costs were excessively inflated.The company is now demanding that parts of the ministry’s statement be retracted within 24 hours, cautioning that it has instructed counsel to pursue all legal options if the demand is ignored.
