Mills’ Man Wife Causes Confusion At Korle Bu

Posted: Daily Guide |Wednesday, 11 August 2010

by Charles Takyi-Boadu
There is growing tension at the nation’s premier hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), over what is seen as the arbitrary removal and replacement of certain departmental heads.

Latest is the removal of the head of the Sub-Budget Management Center (sub-BMC) of the hospital’s central laboratory, Dr S.Y Oppong, which has sparked protest from the laboratory staff since no reason was assigned for his removal.

He has since been replaced with Professor Mercy Newman, wife of the current Chief of Staff of the Mills administration, Martey Newman, who retired from the service about three years ago.

This is generating tension amongst staff of the lab, management and the board of the hospital since they consider the move to be part of a grand scheme to axe some targeted departmental heads from their positions in order to bring others.

What seems to anger most of the staff is the ‘strange’ circumstance under which Prof Newman was handpicked from her retirement by the board of the hospital which is chaired by Professor Seth Aryeetey, considering the fact that they have an existing rotational structure for choosing their heads.

As if to add salt to injury, Prof. Newman has also engaged the services of a fellow retiree, one Prof. Osafo, as a consultant in chemical pathology for the department.

The staff of the central laboratory have held a series of meetings to kick against the decision.

They have also had running battles with the management of the hospital, led by Professor Nii Otu-Nartey, demanding a revocation of Prof Newmann’s appointment since it is against the norm.

Meanwhile, when she was in active service and the head of the sub-BMC, Prof. Newman was said to have cancelled the contracts of some retirees who were working in the department.

The situation is said to be affecting morale and productivity at the place since staff of the laboratory are said to have adopted a cold attitude towards work and vowed not to cooperate with their new boss since they prefer to work with Dr Oppong.

Others who have suffered a similar fate include the likes of the Head of Procurement of the hospital, Kofi Pobee Hayford, who was removed without reason, DAILY GUIDE has learnt.

Deputy Head of Administration Kambarim Kombian, who also served as the board secretary, has been removed and replaced with one Mr. Ribiero, an alleged retiree friend of the board chairman.

Indications are that workers at the central lab are contemplating on embarking on a possible demonstration or sit-down strike to back home their demand for the removal of Prof. Newman.

There are indications of more of such removals scheduled to take place within the next couple of days and weeks.

The Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu, Prof. Otu-Nartey, thinks the laboratory staff are taking issues too far since he sees nothing wrong with the decision.

As a teaching hospital, he said, to appoint anybody to head the laboratory or any clinical area, there should be consultation between the hospital and the university.

Whilst he admits that there is an existing rotational system, things have not been going on well at the lab and that he personally set up a committee to probe their activities and operations.

He therefore noted that the decision to remove the head of the sub-BMC was the result of the committee’s report.

According to him, the basis for Prof. Newman’s appointment was because she worked very hard when she served in that capacity before retiring.

‘I Won’t Disappoint‘

Posted: Daily Guide |Monday, 09 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The re-elected Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he is more than ready to deliver Ghanaians from the hands of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Nana Akufo-Addo therefore sent a note of caution to the NDC to start preparing their handing-over notes before the 2012 elections, since he could not afford to disappoint Ghanaians this time around, with the authority vested in him as flagbearer of the NPP.

Speaking before thousands of supporters who had gathered at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra where he was declared winner of the NPP presidential race, Nana Addo said the confidence reposed in him gave him a strong platform for the ultimate battle ahead.

Describing it as the greatest moment in his political history, he hoped to go into the 2012 election with the strong record of the Kufuor presidency.

Nana Addo stressed his determination to lead an efficient campaign machinery to deliver what he described as ‘the crucial victory’ in 2012.

This, he hoped to do by first uniting the rank and file of the party, since, in his words, “we need each and everyone on board and I pledge to work with all my heart and soul to achieve this”.

He indicated his preparedness to work out a programme with the national executives of the NPP to foster unity across all sections of the party, noting with emphasis:

“The majority of the people have had their say but the whole family must lead the way to the victory we seek in 2012.”

He believed the efficiency with which the party, under the leadership of Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, organized the election, which is considered a novelty on the entire continent of Africa, under five months, was an indication that “we will indeed build an efficient, energetic political machine to drive us to victory in 2012”.

With this election, Nana Addo believed that the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition which metamorphosed into the modern-day NPP, had established a strong template for defining the modern contours of multi-party democracy in Africa.

“This is a victory for a brighter, prosperous future where the young men and women of our nation can live dignified, purposeful, fulfilling lives”, was how he put it.

“An opportunity has been presented to us for a clear total direction of our beloved Ghana. The dream of the founders of our tradition to build a thriving democracy and a strong market economy in our country which will deliver prosperity for the broad masses of our people under the rule of law, respect for human rights and the principles of democratic accountability, is still very much alive”, he noted.

The flag bearer of the NPP therefore called on not only members of the party, but Ghanaians in general, to join him in making this dream a reality, adding, “Let us continue to believe in Ghana.”

It’s Nana With 78%

Posted: Daily guide |Monday, 09 August 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last Saturday shrugged off the challenge from four other contestants in the flagbearership race of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to record a landslide victory.

Nana Addo obtained 83,517 out of 106,590 valid votes cast, representing about 78.35 percent.

His main challenger, John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen polled 21,226 votes, representing about 19.91 percent, with Isaac Osei, the only parliamentarian in the race, placing a distant third with 1,194 votes representing about 1.12 percent.

Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the heart surgeon who dropped his stethoscope for politics, picked 428 votes, representing 0.40 percent; and John Kwame Kodua, a Kumasi-based lawyer and evangelist, obtained a paltry 225 votes representing 0.21 percent.

Four hundred and twenty six ballots were rejected as announced by Albert Kofi Arhin, Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission (EC).

Nana Akufo-Addo was subsequently declared winner amidst wild jubilation by party supporters who had thronged the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park.

In all, 112,716 delegates made up of representatives from the 228 constituencies, former President and former Vice President, former presidential candidates and their running mates, MPs, overseas branches, and patrons voted in the polls, described as a novelty in the annals of African politics.

The euphoria at the Children’s Park where scores of supporters of the NPP and leading members of the party had gathered to listen to the declaration of the results, was one that spoke volumes about a party with a sense of unity.

After going through what proved to be a successful congress, the party promised to give the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) a run for their money in the 2012 general elections.

If there is any message that resonated among the rank and file of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the declaration of the final results, it was that of a party poised for unity and victory come 2012.

This was exactly what was on the lips of each and everyone who mattered on the evening of Saturday August 7, 2010.

Speaker after speaker including former President John Agyekum Kufuor and other contestants did not just stress the need for unity among the rank and file of the party, but also pledged their unflinching support and commitment in whatever way they could to help Nana Addo and the party return to power in January 2013.

Former President Kufuor was cork-sure that come what may, the NPP will wrest power and assume the reins of governance from the NDC in the next elections.

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd at the Efua Sutherland Park in Accra, preceding the declaration of the results by the EC, Mr. Kufuor said the NPP was prepared to go to battle in 2012.

“By today’s decision, the party is telling the country and the world that it is strongly united, it is strongly focused and the single focus is that in 2012, it is going to redeem Ghana”, he said, amidst rapturous applause and cheers from the crowd.

For this reason, the former president is convinced “the party is coming back to power in 2012.”

He therefore asked the rank and file of the party to bury their differences for the battle ahead since the competition for the standing bearer was over, stressing, “We are all holding together like one solid strong man; behind the flag bearer we have chosen today, Nana Akufo-Addo.

“I assure you if and when we bury the pettiness of the competition that we engaged in, there is no way Ghana will not give power to the NPP in 2012”, he said, since according to him, Ghana will be the proudest nation in Africa if the NPP should come back.

This, he said, is strongly evidenced in the good work that his administration bequeathed to the people of Ghana.

Mr. Kufuor told the ecstatic crow: “I assure you that the whole world and not only Africa is asking why the NPP could leave power the way it left in 2008. The world is expecting the NPP to come back.”

Since the NPP stepped down, the former President said, the economy of Ghana had been tumbling whilst the rule of law had been relegated by the Mills administration, stressing, “The atmosphere of freedom and rule of law is now under threat.”

In their days in opposition, Mr. Kufuor said, the NDC used to talk about corruption in his administration but then today, it had virtually become incarnate since it was glorified in the Mills administration.

That, he said, was evident in the fact that there was corruption everywhere, indicating that it was only the NPP that could restore the country back to normalcy and give meaning to transparency and accountability.

The former President said “So we must not fail Ghana and we must assure Africa that we are poised to lead it into the mainstream of globalization and we have got the flag bearer to take us there.”

Each of the contestants including Alan Kyerematen, Professor Frimpong-Boateng and Isaac Osei did not only concede defeat graciously to Nana Addo, but also pledged their unflinching support to him and promised to put everything including their resources at his disposal to ensure the total annihilation of the NDC in 2012.

They therefore urged their respective supporters and members of their campaign teams to bury their differences and forge ahead since the competition was over.