President Mills Behaved Like An Atheist – Frimpong-Boateng

The President of the Ghana Heart Foundation and the former Chief Executive Officer of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Professor Kwabena Frimpong, revealed on Awake that he still harbours pains about circumstances that led to his removal as the CEO of the Cardiothoracic Centre.

Appearing on e.tv Ghana’s flagship show, Awake, on Thursday morning, Professor Frimpong Manso expressed his belief that the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital deserved to be managed properly by dedicated people. He also lamented at how unjustified his removal from office was.

“I feel very sad for Ghana,” he replied in response to host Rashida Nasamu’s probe into his view of the decision by the President to remove him from office. Professor Frimpong-Boateng was sacked in August of 2011 in unclear circumstances in a move that seemed, to observers, to be more politically than professionally motivated.

He had returned to Ghana from Germany to practice as the nation’s first locally-based cardiothoracic surgeon and established the National Cardiothoracic Centre at the Teaching Hospital in 1992 at a time when there were no cardiothoracic surgery facilities in the country.

While making his submission on Awake, he mentioned to Rashida that the action of the Head of State in 2011, removing him from position, was an inappropriate decision.

“Ghana is going to suffer for that decision. Maybe people might not notice it now, but in two, three, maximum five years, we will know the harm that the President has caused.”

“He thinks that Korle-Bu will be a better place without me, the Cardiothoracic Centre will be better place without me and that Ghana Health delivery system will be a better place without Frimpong-Boateng and so that is his responsibility,” he said.

“I don’t know what happened. In fact until today nobody has told me that I did this wrong or I did that wrong and I also don’t know that I did anything wrong but I think our president behaved like an Atheist.”

“Atheists are people who say there is no God. They more or less drive God from the universe he created and I think that is what he did. I built the centre, trained people and you terminate my contract with immediate effect?”

Despite his resentment, Professor Frimpong-Boateng, who once stood as a candidate for possible election to be the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, mentioned that he still harbours hope for the centre he helped establish.

“I was there to fight for the centre and I know my absence won’t create any problems. I wish the cardio centre well and I will do everything possible so it doesn’t collapse.”

He drew a similarity between the management of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and Ghana saying that the hospital “needs a few dedicated people” to run its affairs.