Ghana’s Infrastructure Paradox: 24-Hour Markets, KATH Healthcare Crisis, and the 2026 World Cup
By A Concerned Ghanaian · 12 June 2026 · Politics
I take up my pen once more to send a dispatch across the great divide, because the theater of the absurd that we call home has reached a crescendo of pure comedy. If those who left us for Asamando are looking down upon the Republic, they are undoubtedly shaking their heads in absolute disbelief at the staggering ironies unfolding across the length and breadth of the country.
The most glaring of these contradictions, Osagyefo, lies in the profound failure of the state to handle the basic dignity of healthcare, leaving royalty to beg for what taxes should guarantee. We find ourselves in a surreal reality where King Otumfuo himself is actively soliciting voluntary contributions and begging for money from everyday citizens to renovate and improve the dilapidated Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Meanwhile, President Mahama’s administration is busy burning through precious state resources to build "24-hour markets" across the country.
The economic logic of this beats the mind. Even the busiest, most hyper-capitalist markets in the world do not run 24 hours a day, let alone a market in the Republic of Gambaga where everyone goes to bed by 9:00 PM! To build floodlit, round-the-clock trading stalls for a population that is asleep before midnight, while the premier hospital in the region is literally falling apart and relying on royal charity, is a monument to misplaced priorities.
The management of that very hospital has exposed the knee-jerk governance of our political leaders. The Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, seems to suffer from a severe bout of panic whenever he hears a rumor about KATH. In his latest emotional outburst, he grabbed his pen and suspended the Chief Executive of KATH, a highly trained surgeon whose skills could be actively saving lives, forcing him onto a two-week "staycation." And what was the Chief Executive's crime? He had the audacity to temporarily close down the Emergency Room due to severe, hazardous overcrowding. Instead of the Minister facing reality and telling Mahama to build more hospitals to expand capacity, he chose to punish the man managing the crisis.
Amidst this structural decay, the wheels of justice have turned in a rather dramatic fashion. In a major legal development, U.S. law enforcement officials officially handed over the former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, to Ghanaian authorities. She has been successfully returned to Ghana to face the music after her long-standing extradition request was fulfilled. One can only laugh at the irony of a leader from an institution meant for "small loans" finding herself in such massive, international trouble.
But of course, nothing distracts the populace from structural ruin quite like football. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stages kicking off next week in North America, World Cup fever has officially taken over the media spotlight. Excitement is peaking, and a national consortium of nine television stations has formed to broadcast the tournament across Ghana completely for free. Sports Minister Kofi Adams has been busy clarifying ticket allocations and addressing squad logistics as the Black Stars prepare to face Panama, England, and Croatia.
Yet, I cannot help but look at this upcoming American tournament with a sense of financial dread. We remember the legendary profligacy of past tournaments if back during the World Cup in Brazil the state managed to buy a single coconut for an astronomical fifty dollars, one can only shudder to think what a coconut will cost the taxpayer under the bright lights of the United States! We will likely be paying premium mortgage prices for a piece of fruit.
We are a nation that builds midnight markets for sleeping citizens, finances soccer extravaganzas with inflated coconuts, and suspends surgeons for pointing out that our hospitals are bursting at the seams.
Until the next paradox, I remain your faithful correspondent, watching the circus from the sidelines.
So long,
Ato_KD