Korle Bu CEO axed
The acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Reverend Albert O. Botchway, has been relieved of his duties.
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In his stead, the acting Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Samuel Asiamah, has been asked to act as CEO, pending the appointment of a substantive CEO.
This was contained in a letter dated July 7, 2014 from the outgoing Minister of Health, Ms Sherry Ayittey, and addressed to the board chairman of the hospital.
The letter, however, said Rev Botchway was to revert to his position as a board member of the hospital.
It asked Rev Botchway to hand over all hospital property in his possession and provide comprehensive handover notes to the board chairman.
The letter, a copy of which is available to the Daily Graphic, indicated that the Auditor-General had been requested to audit the period of tenure of Rev Botchway as the acting CEO.
“The Ministry of Health has reviewed the performance of the acting CEO of KBTH over the past year and pursuant to Section 36 of Act 52 (Limitations on Functions of a Teaching Hospital Board), the functions of a teaching hospital board under the act shall be subject to such policy directives as the minister may determine,” the letter said.
“Reference is also made to Section 17 of Act 525 (Minister to Give Directives), which says the minister may issue directives in writing to the council/board on matters of policy and the council/board shall comply with the directives,” it said.
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Background
The minister’s directives come in the wake of a petition submitted by the Senior Staff Association (SSA) of the hospital to the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, through the Ministry of Health, asking that the CEO be made to step down while the board was dissolved.
In the petition, the association accused the board and the management of the hospital of spending more than GH¢1 million of the hospital’s funds on luxury vehicles, among other things.
It alleged that the misuse of funds by the board and the management, which had led to poor infrastructure development at the hospital, had also caused avoidable deaths.
The petition questioned the appointment of Rev Botchway, stating that he came to the hospital as a non-executive member but stepped into the office of the CEO who was enjoying full benefits.
It, therefore, called for the dissolution of the current board, return of the Audi A6 series bought for the acting CEO and the conduct of a forensic audit into the use of funds by the acting CEO.
The association threatened to embark on a number of demonstrations if action was not taken.
SSA President
Reacting to the news in an interview, the President of the Korle Bu SSA, Mr Charles Ofei-Palm, said the association was happy with the development.
He, however, noted that the association was waiting for the board to be dissolved.
He said new board members were needed to restructure, reorganise and reconcile the staff of the hospital to ensure smooth operations.
“We will continue to insist on the dissolution of the current board because that is our ultimate goal. We have to make sure that the old problems do not resurface and create other challenges for the new CEO,” he added.