Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh has pushed back against criticism over his decision to suspend Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) CEO Dr. Paa Kwesi Baidoo, asserting that the administrative action did not require parliamentary clearance.
The issue was raised on the parliamentary floor by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who questioned the lack of legislative engagement and expressed concern that lawmakers were learning about major health sector developments through the media.
“We hear interviews in the media without recourse to the House. We see letters by the Minister taking action against some chief executives,”
Afenyo-Markin noted. He pointed out that Akandoh, as a former Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee, used to zealously demand the very accountability he was now bypassing. “What he did then was good for democracy; I agree. But now that our colleague has risen to that high office, and especially when he is a
Member of this House, our expectation is that he utilises the platform of Parliament for us to understand what is happening in his sector,” Afenyo-Markin stated.
Akandoh defended the move by citing a presidential directive from President John Dramani Mahama mandating that no public health facility turn away emergency cases.
“The president issued a policy direction in the health sector that no facilities should turn away emergency cases, and he (the president) added that even if the life of the person must be saved on the ground, we should do so,” Akandoh explained, adding, “That was a policy direction, and when the president speaks, it’s a policy that the Minister must implement.”
The Minister insisted that hospital leadership lacks the authority to shut down public medical infrastructure. “Let me put on record that nobody, absolutely nobody in this country, has the right to close any portion of a public health facility without the consent of the state, in this case, the minister,” he stated.
Invoking the statutory framework governing teaching hospitals, Akandoh argued his directives legally supersede board decisions. “Section 36 clearly establishes that whatever the Minister says or directs, the board shall apply the same,” he said. “The decision of the Minister is not subject to the review of the board. It is the decisions of the Board that is subject to the review of the Minister.”
According to Akandoh, the suspension followed a meeting regarding the closure of KATH’s Accident and Emergency Unit, which violated government policy.
“The man admitted and apologised before other officers and me,” the Minister said, explaining that a two-week suspension was necessary to send a clear message during an ongoing investigation.
“To send a clear signal, punitive actions are meant to serve as a deterrent. We then proceeded to direct the Board to allow the said CEO to sit aside for two weeks and then investigate the PRO,” he said.
He firmly dismissed the notion that he overstepped his bounds by not consulting the legislature: “Mr. Speaker, is it a decision I needed the approval of the House to do so?”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
