The Minority Caucus in Parliament has condemned the dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), Dr. Adam Atiku, by the Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, describing the move as unconstitutional, rash, and deeply disrespectful to the medical profession.
In a statement on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, the Minority Health Caucus declared the Minister’s action null and void, insisting that the removal violated key provisions of the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act.
“The Minister acted outside the law and disregarded the principles of natural justice,” the statement read. Citing Section 34(7) of Act 525, the Minority stressed that only the President, in consultation with the Council of State, has the authority to remove the CEO of a teaching hospital.
The Minority accused the Health Minister of acting with emotional impulse after a surprise visit to the hospital, where he clashed with staff over faulty equipment and the recent death of a patient. They described the Minister’s conduct during the visit as “unprofessional, demeaning, and a breach of the dignity of healthcare professionals.”
In particular, they condemned the public confrontation with Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa, a neurologist serving the entire Northern Region, as a “collective affront to the medical fraternity.”
The Minority further accused the Minister of bypassing legally mandated disciplinary procedures and failing to grant Dr. Atiku the right to a fair hearing before his removal.
“This populist grandstanding must not replace lawful governance,” the statement warned, adding that the decision undermines healthcare morale and threatens professional independence.
The caucus is demanding:
Immediate reversal of Dr. Atiku’s dismissal
A public apology to Dr. Akwulpwa and TTH staff
Intervention by medical professional bodies and civil society to defend due process
“We shall explore all legal and parliamentary avenues to ensure this matter is not swept under the carpet,” the statement concluded.
The Minority reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting public institutions from arbitrary executive overreach.
Read the full statement below:
Wednesday, 23rd April, 2025
STATEMENT BY THE MINORITY CAUCUS IN PARLIAMENT ON THE REMOVAL
OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF TAMALE TEACHING HOSPITAL BY
THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH1. The Minority Health Caucus in Parliament has received with deep concern the news of the summary dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tamale TeachingHospital, Dr. Adam Atiku, by the newly appointed Minister for Health, Hon. KwabenaMintah Akandoh. This action, which the Minister has publicly confirmed, was carried
out without recourse to due process and is a matter that raises serious constitutional, administrative, and governance concerns.2. According to the Minister, the dismissal is not solely based on the recent unfortunate death of a patient at the Hospital, but rather an exercise of power which, by his own admission, the “appointing authority owes nobody any explanation” for. This attitude is not only authoritarian but diametrically opposed to the principles of administrative justice, accountability, and the rule of law.
3. 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.4. 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.5. 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.
6. We are also compelled to point out that the Minister’s actions were not only unlawful but emotionally charged and rash. It is reported that the Minister undertook a surprise inspection of the Tamale Teaching Hospital and, during the visit, was involved in a heated confrontation with staff members over the facility’s deplorable state of equipment and infrastructure. Among the critical equipment found to be non-functional were ventilators, diagnostic and sterilisation machinery, and MRI scanning systems.
This confrontation followed the recent death of a patient, reportedly due to the absence
of a working ventilator.7. In the course of this unannounced visit, the Minister publicly confronted a medical officer, Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa—a highly respected neurologist, widely believed to bethe only one serving the entire Northern Region, and possibly one of fewer than four across the Northern and Upper Regions. Dr. Akwulpwa has served the people of Northern Ghana with dedication since completing medical school. Rather thanengaging in a private and professional dialogue, the Minister chose to interrogate him over the circumstances surrounding the recent death of a patient—right in the presence of the public and the media. This conduct was not only disrespectful to Dr. Akwulpwa, but also profoundly inconsiderate to the family of the deceased. Matters of mortality and clinical accountability must be handled with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality. The Minister’s public outburst was demeaning, inappropriate, and a breach of the decorum that must govern professional interactions in healthcare. Every well-meaning medical practitioner would rightly view this as a collective affront—not just to Dr. Akwulpwa, but to the dignity of the entire medical profession.
8. 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—and not as a political spectacle.9. Beyond the statutory violations, we find the Minister’s actions to be in breach of the principles of natural justice. Dr. Atiku, the CEO in question, was neither granted a hearing nor informed of any misconduct that would warrant his removal. Ghanaian jurisprudence, including the case of Inspector James Atta v. Inspector General of
Police and Others, is replete with authority that administrative actions affecting the rights and reputation of individuals must be preceded by fair hearing and procedural propriety. This standard has clearly been disregarded in the present case.10. In light of the foregoing, the Minority calls for the immediate reversal of the decision to remove Dr. Adam Atiku from office. The action is unlawful, void, and of no effect.
We further call on the Minister to formally apologise to Dr. Valentine Akwulpwa and the staff of the Tamale Teaching Hospital for the unprofessional manner in which the visit and subsequent discussions were conducted.
11. The Minority Caucus further calls on the Ghana Medical Association, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, the Health Services Workers Union, and all relevant professional bodies within the health sector to rise in defence of due process and institutional integrity. Civil society
organisations must also speak boldly to this matter, for the protection of constitutionalism and the independence of public service institutions is a shared civic duty. The sanctity of Ghana’s public health institutions must be preserved, and the demoralisation of our healthcare professionals halted.12. The Minority remains committed to upholding the rule of law, and to defending the
integrity of our public institutions from arbitrary and unlawful interference. We shall
explore all legal and parliamentary avenues to ensure that this matter is not swept
under the carpet.SIGNED
HON. DR. NANA AYEW AFRIYIE -RANKING – 0501287870
HON. DR. PATRICK BOAKYE-YIADOM -DEPUTY RANKING – 0244589725
HON. DR. KINGSLEY AGYEMANG -MEMBER
HON. FRANK YEBOAH -MEMBER
HON. ALEXANDRE AKWASI ACQUAH -MEMBER – 0244603554 – 0245597413 – 0208131968