Minority Caucus Slams KATH CEO Suspension, Demands Reinstatement and Opening of New Hospitals

The Minority Caucus in Parliament has condemned the suspension of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital CEO, describing it as a reactionary move that fails to address the real causes of Ghana’s “No Bed Syndrome.”

In a statement dated June 7 and signed by Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye, Ranking Member on the Health Committee, the Caucus said the decision ignores structural failures in the health sector. While stressing that preventable deaths must be investigated, the Minority argued that blaming a single hospital head sidesteps broader systemic deficiencies successive governments have long acknowledged.

The group said pressure on KATH stems from delayed and abandoned health infrastructure projects that deny patients access to alternative referral facilities across the middle and northern belts. It noted that under the previous administration, the 500-bed Afari Military Hospital was operationalised and the 250-bed Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua was substantially completed to ease KATH’s burden.

The Caucus questioned why government would suspend a CEO instead of accelerating full operationalisation of these inherited facilities. It pointed out that the 2026 Budget lists Sewua Hospital among major projects still needing attention, and that government itself has admitted weak implementation on health infrastructure expansion.

The statement raised concerns over possible political considerations, asking whether the lack of urgency to open Sewua Hospital is linked to the Ashanti Region not being an electoral stronghold of the governing NDC. Government, it said, must demonstrate that access to quality healthcare is not subject to partisan calculations.

The Minority also cited the Trede and Kokoben-Oforikrom District Hospitals, each 100-bed facilities commissioned in 2024. Despite significant public investment, both remain largely non-operational nearly two years later, while KATH grapples with severe congestion, overstretched staff, and bed shortages.

Insisting that the persistent “No Bed Syndrome” is an infrastructure, capacity, referral, and resource problem, the Caucus said it is not fundamentally a leadership problem at KATH. “Punishing one hospital administrator may create headlines, but it will not create additional beds,” the statement said.

The Minority is demanding that government immediately revoke the suspension and reinstate the KATH CEO pending any independent investigation. It further called for the operationalisation of all completed health facilities meant to ease KATH’s burden, including the Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua and the Agenda 111 hospitals at Trede and Kokoben-Oforikrom.