NPP Parliamentary candidate chides Health Minister

Wa, Sept. 1, GNA - Mr Adams Nuhu Timbile, New Patriotic Party's Parliamentary candidate for Wa West, has advised Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Minister of Health, not to frustrate health professionals by creating the impression that Ghanaians could do without them. If the actions of the Minister, he queried, displeased health personnel and lowered their morale, how could he convince any of them to stay and work in his constituency, which was one of the most deprived areas of the country.

Mr Timbile expressed these sentiments when he spoke to the Ghana News Agency at Wa, on Wednesday, on the dismissal of Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Honorary Director of the National Cardio-Thoracic Centre (NCTC) by the Minister on August 24 this year. The dismissal prompted the partial withdrawal of services by the staff of the centre, who called for his reinstatement. He said the termination of Professor Frimpong-Boateng's appointment could have been handled in a better way than what Ghanaians heard last Thursday. "The Minister's decision was whimsical and capricious, and that, Ghanaians demand an explanation and an unqualified apology from him", he said.

Asked whether he was not criticizing the Minister because he was challenging him for the Wa West parliamentary seat, Mr Timbale said he was expressing his views as a concerned Ghanaian and a constituent of Mr Chireh, who is the sitting Member of Parliament for the area. The Wa West Parliamentary aspirant said Professor Frimpong- Boateng has sacrificed greatly for the country to the extent that his services were indispensable to the nation and the least one could do for him was to show appreciation instead of treating him cruelly. "The people of Wa West expect their MP to bring them fame not shame", he stressed. He expressed condolences on behalf of the people of Wa West to the bereaved families of all those who lost their loved ones, which was ignited by the Minister's action.