'I was rather disrespected' – Akandoh speaks on Tamale Teaching Hospital saga

The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has defended his decision not to apologise over the incident at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, saying he was the one disrespected during the encounter and not the other way round.

Doctors at the facility had suspended services after what they described as ‘unwarranted attacks’ by the minister and the Tamale North MP, Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini, during a visit to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit on April 22, 2025.

The medical staff demanded unconditional apologies for Dr Valentine Akwulpwa and the hospital’s workers, along with urgent medical supplies and infrastructure upgrades.

Tamale Teaching Hospital Saga: Why doctors have suspended emergency, OPD services

According to a citinewsroom.com report on October 15, 2025, Akandoh said he found it surprising that anyone expected him to apologise.

Akandoh maintained that the doctor involved in the confrontation was rather the one who showed disrespect.

“I was actually taken aback as to why anybody will think that it is the minister rather who should apologise when, in the clear view of everybody, it is rather the medical doctor who had disrespected the minister,” he stressed.

He, however, said that there was no need for him to apologise to the doctor, noting that the leadership there would also have been worried about the way and manner the doctor spoke to his minister.

“There was no need for an apology. I was actually surprised about what could cause anybody to be angry, because if anything at all, I thought that the leadership there would have also been worried about the way and manner the medical doctor spoke to his minister,” he indicated.

According to him, the issue was one of principle rather than personality.

“It is not Kwabena Mintah in person I am talking about, but whether you like it or not, at that point, you had met your minister. Respect is supposed to be reciprocal,” he said.

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He disclosed that the matter was later discussed with the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), where logistical and equipment challenges at the hospital were also addressed.

“So, the Ghana Medical Association came, we sat down, I explained it to them, and they said they needed some equipment. So, we mobilised and gave it to them and let bygones be bygones,” Akandoh said.

MRA/AE

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