Minority Leader Slams Health Minister Over Unanswered Letter, Sector Unrest

Minority Leader Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin has taken the Health Minister to task over the state of the health sector, accusing him of failing to respond to official correspondence from Parliament.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament, the Effutu MP revealed that he wrote to the minister more than 60 days ago but has yet to receive a response.

Hon. Afenyo-Markin said doctors are complaining about certain decisions taken by the minister, while graduates from health training institutions are also agitating over delays in recruitment.

“Health services are lately in the media. There are a lot of apprehensions,” the Minority Leader told the House. “Our children have graduated. They want to be recruited.”

He criticized the minister for granting media interviews and issuing letters against some chief executives without first briefing Parliament. The Minority Leader insisted that Parliament is the most important platform in Ghana’s governance architecture for ministers to update the nation.

He reminded the House that the current Health Minister, while in opposition, served as ranking member on health and held his predecessor to “high level accountability.” At the time, the minister was “very, very vocal,” Afenyo-Markin said.

“If all what he did then was good for democracy, I agree. But once our colleague has risen to that high office, and especially when he’s a member of this House, our expectation is he utilizes the platform of Parliament for us to understand what is happening in his sector,” he stated.

The Minority Leader described the situation in the health sector as “very concerning” and said the minister’s failure to engage Parliament is unacceptable.