Sack This Minister• Demands Mills' Man

The dismissal of Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng remains a divisive issue even within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), as the party's Central Regional

Communications Director and a strong ally of the President, has demanded the dismissal of the Health Minister who signed the sack letter.

According to Allotey Jacobs, sacrificing the minister, Joseph Yieleh Chireh, to save the NDC from embarrassment, was the most appropriate option for the party.

The minister, and not the professor, should be showed the exit, he counseled.

He joins a growing number of personalities- local and abroad- for who the dismissal of the outstanding heart surgeon is most unfortunate and regrettable and should be reversed in the interest of medical delivery and national cohesion.

Last week Thursday's sack letter to the Honorary Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, shook the conscience of most Ghanaians when it was transmitted on the airwaves and subsequently in the print media.

The Mills man who has earned notoriety for his unflinching support for the president when he appears on radio programmes has demurred on this score, describing the dismissal as untoward and irregular.

The manner in which it was carried out, according to him as he spoke on Peace FM on Monday, was disgraceful and detrimental to the fortunes of the party.

He asked what informed the decision, adding that it was demeaning. 'Who does the minister want to please by the action?' he asked.

The NDC MP for the Adenta constituency, Kojo Adu Asare, also added his voice, saying, 'I'm getting sick and tired of listing everything in political colours. Mr. Minister, this for me is big time goof.'

He said the minister could have approached the issue in another fashion rather than what had been held by most Ghanaians as shabby.

Personalities like the professor who had inspired the youth, he noted, should be celebrated rather than humiliated.

President Mills' reaction and remarks since the fallouts from the dismissal hit the public domain has left many doubting his sincerity in the whole saga.

The doubts began when deputy Minister of Information Ablakwa Okudzeto wondered if the President knew about the dismissal in his first reaction. But this was dismissed as hypocritical, given the fact that the minister could not have taken such a unilateral decision in terminating the appointment of such a high-profile personality in public service without the directive of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces.

In yet another mess-up of the issue, the President remarked that the manner in which the issue was handled was wrong, suggesting that he was in the know, contrary to what his deputy Information Minister had sought to feed Ghanaians.

President Mills then gave the foremost heart surgeon one month to wind up his activities as the head of the cardio centre.

Having turned the fortunes of the nation's premier teaching hospital around, walling its property and giving it a beautiful façade, Prof Frimpong-Boateng also established the National Cardiothoracic Centre, and also teaches at the Ghana Medical School.

By A.R. Gomda