A/R NSS boss' comment is 'despicable', 'embarrassing' and 'demeaning' to the nursing profession - Apaak

The Member of Parliament (MP) Builsa South constituency, Dr Clement Apaak has waded into the widely circulated tape of the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Alex Opoku-Mensah, and a Nurse at the Manhyia District Hospital in the Ashanti Region.

He condemned the act by the government appointee after describing his verbal utterances as 'distasteful'.

" . . In all honesty, to say the least, it is not only despicable but it's embarrassing, and the content is demeaning to the nursing profession . . . " Dr Apaak said in an interview with NEAT FM’s morning show, 'Ghana Montie'.

A furious Mr Opoku-Mensah is heard in a voice recording of the incident insulting and threatening the nurse over an issue with his daughter, who is a House Officer (Junior Doctor) at the Manhyia Hospital in Kumasi.

"I am in agreement with the decision of the Nurses and Midwives Association . . . with what he did it is an attack on their profession, not the individual nurse . . . we need to respect each other, we have to give respect to every profession," he said.

The Ashanti Regional NSS boss is heard accusing the nurse of disrespecting, and envying his daughter on the phone over an issue that was not made clear in the audio recording.

He has since issued a statement on Facebook to apologize for the incident – claiming it as not his 'style'.

Sack Ashanti Region NSS boss

The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives’ Association (GRNMA) has called on the government and the Public Services Commission to sack the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS), Alex Poku Mensah.

The call follows an audio recording circulating on social media on which the Regional Director is heard hurling insults at a nurse at the Manhyia District Hospital in the Ashanti Region.

In a press release on November 29, 2022, the President of GRNMA, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, called on the government to sack the Regional Director, popularly known as Omens. She mentioned that the Director is not fit for the position, thus should be sacked with immediate effect.

“Having considered the content of the audio and the report received from our Ashanti Regional branch, the leadership of GRNMA wishes for the Public Services Commission and government to sack the Regional Director immediately because he is not fit for the Director position in the public service.”