President John Dramani Mahama has confirmed that a government-appointed committee reviewing the transfer of the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) back to the university’s control has completed its assignment, setting the stage for a transition process that will determine the financial and administrative future of one of the country’s most significant tertiary healthcare investments.
Speaking at the University of Ghana’s congregation ceremony last Saturday, the President said the committee’s report had been received and its recommendations noted, with a transition roadmap now due for presentation to guide the handover.
He described the government’s position as “committed to restoring the university’s stewardship” of the facility, highlighting that management control, currently outside direct university administration, would revert to the institution under a structured plan rather than an immediate handover.
The UGMC, built as a teaching and referral hospital at a cost of $217 million, has for years operated under a governance arrangement separate from the university. This structure has drawn scrutiny over accountability and asset utilisation.
Mahama said the objective of the transition was to ensure the facility fulfilled its original mandate as a centre for specialist training, research and “world-class healthcare services,” positioning the move as one aimed at strengthening returns on the substantial public investment already sunk into the medical centre’s infrastructure.
The President used the platform to reaffirm the government’s fiscal commitments to tertiary education financing. He said the administration remained focused on removing cost barriers to university access under its No Fee Stress initiative, which is designed to support first-year students financially as they begin their studies. He framed the policy in terms of equity of access, stating that education “should never be determined by the size of one’s pocket.”
Mahama also pointed to continued public investment in higher education infrastructure, research and digital systems, describing it as central to national competitiveness. He said the government’s role was to “create an environment” in which talent could thrive, tying the university funding agenda to broader development and productivity goals.
