The Minority Caucus in Parliament has called for the reinstatement of the dismissed Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr. Adam Atiku. They described the dismissal as unlawful, emotionally driven, and rash on the part of the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh.
In a press statement, the Caucus condemned the dismissal process, asserting that it was carried out without recourse to due process. They argued that it constitutes both a constitutional and administrative breach and undermines the principles of natural justice, as the CEO was not afforded the right to a fair hearing.
The Minority contended that the Minister does not possess unilateral power to dismiss the CEO, as per the laws governing Teaching Hospitals and, by extension, the Health Service. According to the Minority, the dismissal was unwarranted and should have been referred to a disciplinary committee, whose findings should have informed any such decision, rather than it being the unilateral action of the Minister.
“It is important to restate 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.”
“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,” they stated.
They raised further legal concerns, arguing that the dismissal should have been carried out by the President in consultation with the Council of State, failure to do so, they claim, amounts to a violation of statutory safeguards regarding the appointment and removal of public officers.
“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,” they added.
The Caucus is also calling for an unqualified apology from the Minister to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, the neurologist involved in a confrontation with the Minister. The Minority described the altercation as disrespectful, insensitive to the bereaved family, and a breach of decorum.
They argued that the Minister’s approach demoralizes health workers on the frontline across the country and insisted that clinical accountability should be pursued with sensitivity and respect for professionals.
“The Minister’s public berating of Dr. Akwulpwa, and the implicit disregard for his long-standing service to an under-resourced region, sends a chilling message to medical professionals across the country. It suggests a climate where frontline health workers can be publicly humiliated without cause, and where emotional, populist grandstanding takes precedence over principled and lawful conduct. We affirm, without reservation, that mortality review and clinical accountability must always be done with sensitivity, privacy, and respect for professional decorum not as a political spectacle,” they stated.
The dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital follows an unannounced visit by the Health Minister to the facility, which revealed significant lapses in healthcare delivery at the hospital.