The farming community of Katakyiekrom in the Jaman South Municipality of the Bono Region is grappling with deteriorating healthcare conditions as a long-abandoned community clinic project remains unfinished due to funding constraints.
Initiated in 2018 as a self-help effort, the clinic project was born out of the community’s desire to improve healthcare access. Actual construction began in 2022, with residents demonstrating strong commitment through communal labour. While the building has been roofed, it has since stalled — a casualty of limited financial resources.
According to Mr. Godfred Kwan, Assembly Member for the Katakyiekrom Electoral Area, the project requires urgent assistance to complete plumbing, electrical fittings, flooring, ceiling, and the installation of doors and windows. He also appealed for basic medical equipment, hospital beds, and supplies to operationalise the facility.
“The community’s effort and commitment are not in doubt. But we have hit a wall. We need external support to bring this dream to life,” Mr. Kwan said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.
Currently, healthcare delivery in the area relies solely on a small, overstretched Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound, which is battling numerous challenges. Health workers say the facility is structurally inadequate, failing to accommodate the growing population of Katakyiekrom and neighbouring communities.
Madam Franklina Owusu, a health worker at the CHPS compound, described the working conditions as “distressing,” adding that limited space, poor sanitation, and a lack of medical tools compromise the quality of care provided.
Her colleague, Mr. Owusu Acheaw, noted that the facility becomes dusty during the dry season and muddy when it rains, affecting both staff efficiency and patient safety. He also raised alarm over a long-standing refuse dump near the compound, which has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, rodents, and snakes.
The situation has also raised fears among residents, especially expectant mothers, who risk complications due to the poor state of the health centre.
“It’s risky for us pregnant women to even go there to deliver,” said Madam Diana Yeboaa, a local farmer. “We urgently need the clinic completed to protect our lives and those of our babies.”
The Katakyiekrom community’s story is emblematic of the broader healthcare access challenges in rural Ghana, where many communities depend on under-resourced CHPS compounds and abandoned self-funded projects.
Residents are calling on the Ministry of Health, philanthropic organisations, NGOs, and well-meaning Ghanaians to support the completion of the clinic project and help improve the overall health infrastructure in the area.
“We’ve done our part as a community,” Mr. Kwan concluded. “Now we need others to come on board and help us finish what we started.”
