Case of fake doctor takes four weeks' adjournment

Tema, Oct. 6, GNA - The case of Daniel Nktumkanda Ibond, the 45-year-old national of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who allegedly posed as a medical doctor, took a four-week adjournment at a Tema circuit court on Thursday.

The court, presided over by Mr Charles Asiedu, did not sit, and a clerk gave Monday, November 14, as the next hearing date for the case. Ibond, who was posted to the Tema General Hospital as "a medical doctor under observation," is facing two counts of forging documents, and possessing forged documents.

He has denied both charges, and he is being represented by Mr. Osafo Buabeng.

The facts of the case as narrated to the court by Police Inspector Adolphus Otchere last month when the accused person made his appearance, were that on September 8, this year, operatives from the Bureau of National Investigations, acting upon a tip-off arrested Ibond. His arrest followed reports that he was parading within the corridors of the hospital as a medical practitioner.

Upon interrogation, Ibond confessed that he was rather a professional teacher and a pastor as well. Ibond was said to have presented a certificate in French to the Ghana Medical and Dental Council when he enquired from the Council as to how foreign trained doctors could obtain permission to practice in Ghana.

After he had satisfied the Council with an English version of the certificate, Ibond was given an official accreditation to undertake a clinical attachment at the Tema General Hospital. When the Police arrested him, however, Ibond stated that the certificate was given to him by a Togolese friend for a fee of 5,000 dollars.

Upon a search on his premises, it was revealed by his passport that the accused person was a teacher. Other items found on him were hospital prescription forms, medical textbooks, laboratory