Who is Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng outside of politics, galamsey?

Over the past few days, the name Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has become very topical across the media.

This is as a result of a report he authored to the president in 2021 in his capacity as the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM). In the report, he cited some government officials who, he explains, are hindering the fight against illegal mining, or are engaged in it themselves.

The 36-paged report is titled; “Report on the Work of the IMCIM and the way forward.”

In the report, Prof Frimpong-Boateng makes known the names of some of these known NPP officials who were engaged in the menace.

On hearing the content of the report, the public reacted with mixed emotions.

To some, the former minister has become a hero for going against his political party through his fight against illegal mining, while to others, there is a hidden agenda behind why the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, published such a report.

For others too, he is merely a politician who has acted on an order from his political appointee and only presented the results of what he found in his investigations.

But in this article, GhanaWeb explores the person known as Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng and how he rose to become this much-talked-about politician (he was a one-time presidential hopeful for the NPP), as well as what his life has been like away from politics.

Below is a full profile on the man.

Career:

Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng is a physician and cardiothoracic surgeon who established who’s work and contributions in the health sector is widely acknowledged.

He is the President of the Ghana Heart Foundation and was once the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra.

Frimpong-Boateng attended Sekondi College in Ghana where he studied physics and mathematics with the aim of becoming an engineer. But later decided to seek a career as a doctor when he was offered a scholarship to study medicine in Germany.

While in Germany, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng in 1985, performed a heart transplant which at the time gave him the recognition worldwide as the first black person to have performed a heart transplant. And in November 1988, he again to perform the first heart-lung transplantation in Hannover.

On completing his post-graduate studies in 1989, he returned to Ghana to practise as Ghana's first locally based cardiothoracic surgeon and then establish the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the Ghana Heart Foundation in 1992.

He joined the University of Ghana Medical School as a lecturer in 2000 and was promoted associate professor the same year. He was made a full professor in 2002.

In the same year, he was made the head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School, prior to his current appointment as the Chief Executive of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in 2002.

Among other things, Prof Frimpong-Boateng runs a charitable foundation, the Ghana Heart Foundation, which is responsible for paying for heart surgery for some indigent Ghanaians under his care.

As a practising surgeon, he has made a lot of strides in Ghana’s Health sector all these years.

Achievements:

Throughout the life of Prof Frimpong-Boateng, he’s been recognised for all the works and contributions he’s made to society. However, here are some known achievements.

• Established the National Cardio-Thoracic Centre which is now recognised by the West African College of Surgeons to train heart surgeons, cardiologists, cardiac anaesthetists, operating room nurses, intensive care nurses, cardiac technicians, and other cardiothoracic technicians. (1992)

• Performed the first open-heart surgery in Ghana using the heart-lung machine.

• Established the Ghana Heart Foundation to raise funds to assist those who cannot afford the cost of heart surgery.

• 1999 - Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG) Marketing Man of the Year.

• September 10, 2004 - Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Education, Winneba.

Personal life:

Frimpong-Boateng and his wife, Agnes, have five children, one of whom is a promising athlete.

Outside of his profession, Prof Frimpong-Boateng is a farmer. He established the first ostrich farm in Ghana, in the village of Dedukope, in the Volta Region of Ghana.

He also grows jatropha and extracts the oil for the production of bio-diesel which he uses in his vehicles.

Frimpong-Boateng runs a CNC machine tool centre that is able to produce spare parts with computer precision at the Free Zones enclave in the port city of Tema.

Politics:

In March 2006, Frimpong-Boateng announced his intention to seek the nomination as the candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the December 2008 National Presidential Elections. However, that dream was shut what the current president, Akufo-Addo was elected to be the flagbearer of the party.

Regardless of his results, he declared he is still concerned with political issues in relation to education and health problems. He would later regret that political corruption in Ghana was too much and said that in his opinion politicians were not taking social priorities into account, especially the need for technology.

When the NPP took over office, Professor Frimpong was made Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and subsequently the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining. Both positions of which he no longer serves.

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