The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has criticised Deputy Health Minister Grace Ayensu-Danquah for what he describes as the politicisation of the tragic death of 29-year-old Charles Amissah.
Mr. Amissah reportedly died on February 6 after being turned away by three major health facilities in Accra.
The Minority lawmaker’s comments followed remarks by the Deputy Minister on the floor of Parliament, where she alleged that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration failed to complete any of the Agenda 111 hospital projects despite significant financial investments.
Addressing the House, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah apologised to the bereaved family on behalf of MPs who might be associated with the Deputy Minister’s comments.
“Let me, on behalf of MPs who may feel like associating with this call I am about to make, apologise to the family of Charles Amissah for the comments that have just been made by the Deputy Minister for Health, which, in our view, attempts to politicise the matter. This is the matter of a tragic death, a matter that has now been announced as a subject of an investigation,” he said.
He further cautioned against linking the incident to the completion status of Agenda 111 projects or the certification of emergency medical teams.
“There should be no basis for which at this time the attempt to suggest that it is because the immediate past administration did not finish Agenda 111 buildings or EMTs have not been certified. Because if we descend into that arena, Mr. Speaker, we may be tempted to ask what the administration before the last one also did about that,” he added.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah stressed that the priority should be ensuring a thorough and credible investigation into the circumstances surrounding the young man’s death rather than engaging in partisan exchanges.
“I am not sure what Ghanaians want to hear us talking about is an attempt to be doing partisan exchanges on this. What is important is that this investigation is done, and is done in a credible manner. What is important is that if some wrongdoing is found, the persons who would have engaged in it are held culpable, and, more importantly, Mr. Speaker, there is an assurance that going forward the emergency health processes that should take place in our health facilities across the country are very strongly observed,” he said.
He urged bipartisan cooperation to strengthen emergency healthcare delivery.
“…Across the aisle, we have to commit ourselves to ensure that no cedi should be spared in ensuring that facilities and personnel are made available to attend to the health needs of our people… This should not be a matter that is politicised in any way,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Health Minister has reiterated that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is committed to addressing the country’s persistent “no bed syndrome” in hospitals.
