Paulina Patience Tangoba Abayage is a former Upper East Regional Minister
A former Upper East Regional Minister, Paulina Patience Tangoba Abayage, has weighed in on the ongoing situation at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), attributing the crisis to managerial ineptitude.
She expressed the view that the challenges facing the hospital which are impacting the smooth delivery of healthcare services are largely the result of a collapsed management system.
Recounting her experience with the facility in March 2023, she said that a staff member from TTH had reached out to her for assistance in securing a medical device—specifically a mammogram machine which is a specialised x-ray device used primarily for the early detection of breast cancer.
“In March 2023 a young lady on this app, I’m sure she’ll be reading, reached out in desperation to me to help get a mammogram machine for TTH because a big hospital like that serving the entire northern sector had not a single one,” she posted on Facebook on April 23, 2025.
According to her, she began taking steps to assist by reaching out to some of her colleagues, leveraging their influence in an effort to help secure the equipment for the hospital in response to the request made by the staff member.
She stated that funds were provided by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) through its former CEO, Mustapha Hamid, to the hospital’s management for the procurement of the mammogram machine.
However, she said she was surprised to learn, through the same staff member who had initially contacted her, that the equipment had not been acquired.
“I immediately set to work, contacting KSK to use his huge influence to get one for the hospital. He also got to work immediately and promised to get NPA to provide one. Soon after he sent me a message that NPA, through the CEO Mustapha Hamid had given approval for one for the hospital. Months will go by only for the young lady to get back telling me there was no show! What? I immediately got back to KSK who was equally surprised. I set off to find out what happened because I was told funds had been released,” she continued.
Abayage further disclosed that her inquiries into the matter revealed discrepancies regarding the handling of the funds.
She noted that upon the release of the money, the management of TTH returned the funds to the NPA, citing the reason that the amount was issued in cedis while the quoted price for the equipment was in dollars.
“Know what I found out? Management made the request to NPA quoting in Ghana Cedis. When the funds were released, they noticed discrepancies because the cost of the machine was in dollars and they had been given funds in cedis. So, they returned the money to the source for corrections to be made (or something to that effect). SICK, isn’t it?” she added.
According to her, as a result of this development, the hospital was unable to procure the mammogram machine.
She added that her late sister, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was receiving care at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, had to travel to Accra for diagnostic tests due to the unavailability of the equipment at the facility.
“As fate will visit it on me, a year later, my senior sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to be consulting at same TTH. They had no mammogram machine and had to be doing some ridiculous forth and back: Accra-TTH, where tissue samples are taken to Accra for testing etc. On one such simple occasions, she went into theatre and never recovered from unconsciousness till she died in July 2024,” she recounted.
Reacting to the doctors’ suspension of emergency and OPD services along with their subsequent demands at the TTH, Abayage commended the medical professionals for taking a stand against the facility’s management.
She praised their initiative in demanding improved working conditions and essential medical equipment to enhance the quality of healthcare delivery.
Read her full post below:
MAG/AE
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