Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the ranking member of Parliament’s Health Committee, has denounced Kwaku Agyeman Manu, the Health Minister, for his inability to reopen the Korle Bu Renal Unit.
Mr. Mintah Akandoh said this to Ghana360news that Mr. Agyeman Manu had been urged by the Minority Chief Whip to immediately order the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to reopen the renal unit, but the minister hasn’t issued the directive.
Since May, the Korle Bu Renal Unit has been closed, and hospital administrators have attributed this to the removal of the exemption from taxes and excise duties on medical supplies.
The hospital now owed four million cedis as a result of this.
The hospital had previously attempted to raise the dialysis fees, claiming that the center would not be able to remain open for longer than a week if the previous fees were maintained.
Approximately 19 renal patients have died since it closed in May.
Speaking on Ghana360news via skype, Mr. Mintah Akandoh stated that if the minister is unable to guarantee the center’s reopening, he ought to be removed from his position.
“Assuming the minister has the authority to give orders, how come, as I speak to you, that instruction has not been followed? What is he doing in the ministry?” He probed.
He said that the Akufo-Addo administration’s silence on the matter is shocking and that they have not shown any consideration for the impacted renal patients.
“I completely fail to see the commitment. Since May, the unit has been closed. I remained silent about the issue in May, I stayed silent about it in June, did you hear the minister discussing it before a few of us entered? Did you hear that until a few of us arrived, it became topical?
“Where is everyone’s commitment, even the president? A vice president has expressed interest in becoming the next president of this nation; he is unconcerned with anything outside of domestic politics and presidential aspirations. Does he not know that people are passing away?
“And no one at all appears to be concerned. Since the minority party does not control the public coffers, the best we can do given the circumstances is to hold the executive accountable.
“This is what happens when you have an inept, callous, and unethical government,” he raged.
Source: Ghana360news.com
