Korle-bu hospital boss takes home GHC92,667, as retirement package

A report by the Auditor-General has revealed that the former Chief Administrator of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. N. O. Nartey, took home an outrageous GHC92,667 as retirement package without the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

The officer, according to the report, also took away a VW Passat with registration number GN 3669-11 for free.

Prof. Nartey, according to the Report of the Auditor-General on the Public Accounts of Ghana, Ministries, Departments and other Agencies (MDAs) for the financial year ended December 31, 2014, was not entitled to that amount after just five years of service to the nation’s premier health facility.

The retirement package, Kasapafmonline.com learnt was approved by a Committee headed by Rev. Albert Botchway who is a Board Member and Acting Chief Administrator of the hospital.

The Committee, this website is told, approved the package based on retirement awards paid in entitled like COCOBOD, Bank of Ghana (BoG), and the Ghana Commercial Bank.

For instance, Prof. Nartey’s Duty Post saloon car (two years old) was valued at GHC17,214.00 and sold to him. His two months Total Income SSPS + Market Premium for each year served in office was valued at GHC61,683.20 while his Standard Living Room Furniture and 43 Star TV was valued at GHC8,690.00.

Additionally, a refrigerator, a deep freezer and a gas cooker was valued GHC5,080.00.

However, in the view of the Auditor-General, the Committee should have rather considered what pertained in similar organizations like Komfo Anokye and Tamale Teaching Hospitals, since “Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s core mandate is health-care delivery and not a corporate body mandated to make profit”.

“Since market premium is a form of allowance, we found it inappropriate for it to be used in determining end-of-service benefit. Furthermore, the Board and management did not obtain the approval of the Ministry of Finance through the Minister of Health, as required by Section 37 (6) of GHS/TA Act, 1996 (Act 525).

According to the report, a similar assessment of retiring awards paid to retiring Chief Administrators by previous Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Boards and management proved otherwise.

The report further revealed never in the history of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has the Board paid such allowances to its retiring Chief Administrator.

In the of the Auditor-General, there was no justification for the Board and management to vary Korle-Bu’s practice of modest retirement packages for its retiring Chief Executives, especially, when the hospital remains a health service provider and not a commercial entity..

The report cautioned that such payments might not be sustainable and could affect the hospital’s cash flow and thereby, impact negatively on health care delivery at the health facility.

It said the amount could have been channeled into areas that would enhance the hospital’s core business of delivering quality health care to patients.

“Since the payment was not supported by the hospital’s past practice and its financial capacity or the officer’s terms of appointment as Chief Administrator, we recommend that the Board should consult the Minister of Health who should, in consultation with the Minister of Finance, review the package paid, with a view to recovering any unjustified payments made to the retired Chief Administrator”.

“Also, management should ensure that VW Passat with registration number GN 3669-11, which the officer took away for free, is recalled and valued by a certified state valuer and the officer made to pay for it”, the report recommended.