Frimpong-Boateng's Termination Brouhaha - Hand Over Properly. - Prez Directs

President J. E. A. Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills has directed that a proper handover process of the administrative functions of the National Cardiothoracic Centre(NCC) be carried out within one month beginning from Tuesday.

Giving the directive following a meeting with surgeons and staff of NCC over the exit of Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng as the Honorary Director of the centre, President Mills said it was his expectation that normalcy would return to the NCC.

A statement signed by a deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and issued in Accra yesterday said the President acknowledged that the transition process and the Health Minister’s letter could have been better and assured all of his continuous commitment to build strong institutions, promote the rule of law and ensure quality health care for all citizens.

It said it was not the intention of the Ministry of Health to prevent Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng from carrying out his professional duties as a surgeon at the NCC.

According to the statement, it was agreed that what the letter issued by the Ministry of Health should have conveyed was the need for Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng, now 62, to hand over as the administrative head of the NCC having passed the compulsory retirement age of 60 in conformity with Article 199 of the 1992 Constitution.

The statement said “the meeting, which was cordial and fruitful,l was successful in clarifying the true import of the letter conveyed to Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng on 24th August, 2011 by the Health Ministry.”

The meeting recalled how Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng was offered an appointment by the Minister of Health by a letter dated June 22, 2000 as “the Director in charge of the National Cardiothoracic Centre on honorary basis until further notice”.

“The meeting also acknowledged that Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s appointment in 2000 was ‘until further notice’ hence was never intended to be a position for the preserve of any one person,” it said.

Before then Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng had continuously served as the Director of the Centre since it was established in 1991 and formerly inaugurated in 1992 by Flt Lt. J.J. Rawlings, then Chairman of the PNDC, and indicated that at all times, the NCC had remained a public institution under the Ministry of Health.

The statement said as a lecturer in Surgery of the University of Ghana Medical School, Professor Frimpong-Boateng was allowed by virtue of being a professor to be engaged on contract until he attained the age of 70.

“Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng is, therefore, entitled to be a consultant at the NCC just like other senior professors who lecture at the UGMS,” it added.

While recognising the important role of Prof. K. Frimpong Boateng in the establishment and growth of the NCC, the statement said the President emphasised that, it was also imperative that the laws of Ghana were obeyed by all and that he was always mindful of his oath to uphold the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.