Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The Minority Health Caucus in Parliament has rebuked the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, for dismissing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Adam Atiku.
Dr Adam Atiku’s dismissal comes following a surprise visit by the minister to the health facility.
Mintah Akandoh, upon reaching the hospital amidst media presence and other dignitaries, confronted Dr Adam Atiku about the undesirable condition of the hospital which reportedly resulted in the unfortunate death of a patient.
In response, the CEO and some staff members had wanted the minister to appreciate the challenges they were facing but the situation turned confrontational as Mintah Akandoh berated Dr Atiku for seemingly acting insensitive to the plight of the patients.
The minister later announced the dismissal of the hospital CEO and noted that the “appointing authority”, referring to himself, “owes nobody any explanation”.
In view of this action, the Minority has cited administrative and constitutional breaches that characterized the minister’s decision.
According to a statement issued by the Minority Health Caucus and copied to GhanaWeb, they questioned Mintah Akandoh’s resolve to sack the CEO “without recourse to due process” and emphasised that this is a “matter that raises serious constitutional, administrative, and governance concerns”.
They described the minister’s attitude as “not only authoritarian but diametrically opposed to the principles of administrative justice, accountability, and the rule of law”.
To buttress their position on the matter, the Minority Health Caucus pointed out the minister’s infractions saying “the governing legal framework for the administration of Teaching Hospitals in Ghana. Section 37(1)(e) of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 1009), provides that the Chief Executive Officer of a teaching hospital shall be the Chief Administrator and a member of the Hospital’s Governing Board. The law does not confer unilateral power on the Minister of Health to dismiss the CEO of a teaching hospital, let alone in the manner and under the circumstances now in issue”.
They continued; “Furthermore, Section 34(7) of the parent Act 525 stipulates that the removal of a member of a Teaching Hospital Board, which includes the CEO, must be effected by the President in consultation with the Council of State. The procedure adopted by the Minister thus violates the statutory safeguards surrounding appointments and removals at this level of public administration.
“In addition, Sections 42(2)(d) and 46 of the Act mandate that disciplinary matters arising at a teaching hospital must first be referred to the Disciplinary Committee, which is required to investigate and report its findings to the Board. There is no indication that any such procedure was invoked in this instance, and therefore the dismissal of Dr. Adam Atiku lacks both procedural and substantive fairness.”
The Minority also noted that the minister’s action was “not only unlawful but emotionally charged and rash”.
“It is reported that the Minister undertook a surprise inspection of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and, during the visit, was involved in a heated confrontation with staff members over the facility’s deplorable state of equipment and infrastructure. Among the critical equipment found to be non-functional were ventilators, diagnostic and sterilisation machinery, and MRI scanning systems. This confrontation followed the recent death of a patient, reportedly due to the absence of a working ventilator”, they added.
In light of the foregoing, the Minority has called for an “immediate reversal of the decision to remove Dr. Adam Atiku from office”.
“The action is unlawful, void, and of no effect. We further call on the Minister to formally apologise to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa and the staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital for the unprofessional manner in which the visit and subsequent discussions were conducted”, they further expressed their sentiments.
AME
