The Destiny Of The Ghanaian Youth Lies In Prof. K. Frimpong-Boateng
The message he has is double-edged – it’s a catalyst that acts as a bait for the youth interested in agriculture. Entering the political arena now as ‘Joshua” will see all our agricultural produce having value added onto it to enable the country earn more foreign exchange. As someone likely to take over from H.E. Prez. Kufuor, his wake-up call will echo through the four corners of the country. He will inculcate into the youth new ideas because he thinks they have the brightest future.
OIL DISCOVERY As an achiever, a good listener, a visionary and a disciplinarian, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng is certainly the one-stop candidate whose ingenuity has helped mould the Korle Bu Hospital in the sub-region.
PROF. K. FRIMPONG-BOATENG, THE GREATEST OF THE ‘GREATS’
In the village of Datano, near Sefwi Wiawso, in the Western Region, was born some fifty-seven years ago, a young boy called Kwabena Frimpong, who has grown to become known and called Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng. His parents were Opanin Kofi Frimpong and Madam Afua Bema, both peasant farmers. Kwabena was named after his grandfather, one Opanin Kwame Boateng hence the combination of his present name, Frimpong-Boateng. Kwabena’s father died very young when he had not even started class one in those days. And as if providence pre-destined that it should be so, his mother did all she could to ensure that her little boy aspired to an appreciable level in life. She supported the farming activities with petty trading to be able to cope but that was not enough to cater for her child. Unlike the children of the elite or the bourgeois class Kwabena would only wear decent sandals i.e. the ‘under-green’ on occasions like independence days or for church but was never perturbed. This tells you the kind of life he passed through during his infancy. Knowing his background, he never let go his books.
MIDDLE SCHOOL On entering the middle school, the mother found it extremely difficult to cope with the school fees and other logistics so she arranged for him to relocate and stay with the uncle at Nkawie, near Kumasi. His uncle was a prominent trader so Kwabena found solace in his new abode. In l964, he passed the common entrance exams for entry to the secondary school when he was in middle form two or the standard five but because his cousin, the uncle’s son failed in the said exams, naturally, he could not commence but asked to bide his time till both passed before gaining admission to the secondary school. Luck however smiled at the two young boys as both of them – Kwabena and his cousin – passed the following year before the uncle sponsored the two at the secondary school.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Kwabena gained admission to the Sekondi College where his brilliance saw him emerge as the best science and mathematics student and collected both prizes at all the Speech and Prize Giving Days till he completed school. No wonder when he finished, he gained admission to do medicine at the University of Ghana Medical School, Accra. After completion he did his housemanship at the Korle Bu Hospital before being transferred to the Komfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi. As one of the young doctors and also the secre- tary of the regional medical officers’ association, his penchant for limelight and his vociferous nature brought him to the fore when the late Gen. Acheampong tried to introduce the Unigov. His sharp criticism about this landed him in one of the Kumasi Police cells – an ordeal he would not like to recount here. Later he was released on the instructions of the Head of State and sent to Accra to meet with Gen. Acheampong to explain about his version of the misconduct and asked to write an undertaking to be of good behaviour.
BLOODTHIRSTY
The late Gen. Acheampong, as most Ghanaians knew him, was not bloodthirsty, otherwise, Frimpong-Boateng, would have joined his ancestors long ago. As a result of his sense of humour and magnanimity, he warned him to desist from participating in any future demonstrations. For his part, in criticizing the government, his ‘relocated home- town’ Nkawie suffered the neglect of essential amenities such as pipeborne water and electricity for years. The severity of this punitive measure must have prompted this young doctor to seek for greener pastures in Europe to avert the wrath of the townsfolk.
HELP FROM MACEDONIA AND DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE
The resultant development forced young Frimpong-Boateng to write a number of applications to health institutions in Europe and luckily, one renowned doctor in Germany replied and invited him that he should travel to pursue his course there. So in l978, he left the shores of Ghana for Hannover, to train as a specialist and chose to concentrate on the heart surgery. As predestined, he distinguished himself creditably and it was no wonder he became the first African, south of the Sahara, and the first Ghanaian, to conduct a successful heart transplant in the world. Associated with the ‘first’ in all his endeavours, it is again no wonder he became the first to conceive the idea of setting up a cardio thoracic centre in Ghana. For those who care to know, the minimum heart cases he led a team of doctors to work on while in Germany was 25 with the maximum of 45 in a month with an annual figure at between 2,000 and 3,500.Fellow countrymen and women, when the time dawned on him to return home to save his compatriots, his employers thought he was becoming insane and a team of three psychiatric doctors was asked to check his mental faculty, which proved negative otherwise his brain would have undergone some critical surgery.
PATRIOTISM
Dr. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was however permitted to return home on condition that the medical director whose kindness helped Dr. Frimpong-Boateng to travel abroad, insisted that he should train some three white doctors in the heart surgery department – and was rather delayed for additional two years in training these expatriates to know the A-Z of the heart surgery before being released for his personal ambitions. Mind you, he left the juicy and rosy perks of between $400,000.00 and $450,000.00 allowances per mensem excluding his salary to come to his ‘own’ but his own rejected him. This is the characteristic Ph.D in Africa i.e. ‘pull-him-down’ syndrome which most detractors have worked to perfection thereby retarding our own development.
THE BIRTH OF THE CARDIO THORACIC CENTRE AT KORLE BU
As a result of his exemplary performance and good conduct in Germany, the German Government offered him the medical equipment/facilities for the establishment of the cardio thoracic centre in Ghana but without funds for the construction of the building to house the vital equipment. On arrival in December l992, he approached the government with his masterplan and was met with stiff opposition. His vision was nearly marred but thanks to the living legends like Nana Akuoku Sarpong and the evergreen P.V. Obeng, one time ‘Prime Minister’ of Ghana, he managed to cut the sod to begin with the construction of the centre for the machines to be accommodated with his personal savings. One may ask, which Ghanaian or African sojourning in far away Europe or the Americas, in the l990s would return to his home country to be faced with this kind of treatment, while foregoing some $450,000.00? For the presidency or what? But he abandoned all these to come home to help his kith and kin. Frustration from his collea- gues and red-tapeism in the government quarters nearly dampened his spirit but he knew he’ll surely overcome one day. Now, he is an overcomer. Through thick and thin Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has realized his vision for Ghana and Africa – the Cardio Thoracic Centre – the second to South Africa’s one. For the records, the Korle Bu Hospital is second to the Soweto Hospital in South Africa in terms of land size and bed capacity – at 2,000, 500 doctors, senior doctors and Professors, 1,200 nurses and of course, not includ- ing the NTC population. For the information of those who do not know, this wonderful heart surgeon has managed to train as many as five Ghanaian specialist cardio thoracic surgeons, 20 Nigerians, 5 Ethiopians and one Togolese; for the cardio theatre nurses, the number is enormous. He is again the first of the 24 chief executives of the hospital since l923 to dream about fencing the perimeter wall – even though belated – his predecessors could have gained some 30 acres of land property lost to encroachers if the initiative was there. He is the first to bring his dream-child to reality, the cardio centre has fetched the Ghana government some $30,000, 000.00. Is any discerning mind listening? This master- piece has however become the centre of medical excellence in the sub-region where most Africans who can afford the standard fee of $5,000 troop to have their heart-related diseases mended for them because the centre in South Africa charges some $l8,000.00. And for us Ghanaians who cannot afford, his other baby, the Ghana Heart Foundation, solely set up to solicit funds from philanthropists and corporate bodies to support the needy Ghanaians, has always been at our service. Under his administration, he has managed to secure the MRI for the hospital – also the first in the region. This is a mechanism that is able to detect all the human sicknesses in the body. What a feat!
DIALYSIS AND REARGENT MACHINES
The professor as a personal friend of the German Foreign Minister for about three decades, Korle Bu has again secured some Dialysis and Reargent machines whose street price is unimaginable. By his contacts with the Germans, Ghana has got these for free. There are lots more in the pipeline to ensure that almost all the regional hospitals will be equipped with modern sophisticated hospital engineering facilities as well as offer scholarships to our medical and para-medical staff to broaden their knowledge. There will be obviously no cause for anybody whatsoever to label any hospital in the country a ‘graveyard’ if he wins the nod to assume office after Prez. Kufuor’s exit.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s immense contribution to Ghana’s socio-economic development is such that his services cannot be quantified in terms of money. His resourcefulness is beyond comparison, his ingenuity and creativity – unparalleled. He is great by all standards – the first to think about the welfare of the doctor/nurse housing accommodation at Korle Bu. Ghana has produced the Tetteh Quarshies and the Kwegyir Aggreys of yesteryears, but the Frimpong-Boatengs of modern day Ghana’s exploits, very superlative! Honestly, some people are born great, others too achieve greatness and some are conferred greatness on themselves. Professor, you are really great, and the greatest in a country of the ‘greats’. Kofi Appiah Airport – Accra Tel. 0277 l22 909
