Dr Kennedy criticises Mahama - He failed to acknowledge Western assistance in health care
A member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama for selectively praising African leaders, while ignoring Western contributions to Africa's healthcare sector.
He noted that President Mahama failed to mention the West spending more than US$157 billion to help Africa and the bilateral assistance from the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) in the healthcare sector.
Dr Kennedy expressed the concern in a statement issued on September 25, 2025 in response to President Mahama's recent call for Africa to assume leadership in healthcare.
Context
President Mahama in his speech at the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in Accra on August 5, 2025, praised several African leaders, including President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa; former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, former United Nations Secretary General, the late Kofi Annan; former Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo and President William Ruto of Kenya, for their leadership in delivery of health services on the continent.
However, President Mahama failed to acknowledge the significant contributions of Western leaders, particularly former US President, George W. Bush, who launched the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through PEPFAR, the US has spent $120 billion on HIV relief and saved 26 million lives, mostly in Africa.
Healthcare funding
Dr Kennedy lamented the lack of commitment from African leaders to healthcare funding, noting that most countries, including Ghana, have not met the Abuja declaration's target of spending 15 per cent of their budgets on health.
"A quarter century after the Abuja declaration, most of them, including Ghana, have not even reached eight per cent," he stated.
"Indeed, truth be told, President Mahama's summit was necessitated by what the WHO Director, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, reported as "health aid projected to decline by up to 40 per cent this year compared to two years ago."
This decrease, Dr Kennedy said, was due mainly to cuts in global health spending by the Trump administration.
He added that the summit would have been a good place and time to thank America for the generosity of past governments, starting with Bush and lasting through Biden.
Galamsey
Dr Kennedy urged President Mahama to back his words with action, particularly in addressing the galamsey crisis, which he said posed a significant health risk to Ghanaians.
"Show action to back your words by halting galamsey. It is a health emergency and a national crisis," Dr Kennedy.
Recall
President Mahama convened and addressed the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit in Accra in early August, this year ( 2025).
The event, which included African heads of state, the WHO Director-General and other global health leaders, focused on reshaping global health governance to prioritise African leadership, investment and self-reliance.
