Richard Ahiagbah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Director of Communication, has quizzed President John Dramani Mahama on why he continues to let the Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh toy with the lives of Ghanaians.
The NPP Director of Communication highlighted that, having personally experienced both the strengths and profound shortcomings of Ghana’s healthcare system, he knows the sacrifices Ghana Health workers make every single day.
According to Richard Ahiagbah, he was stunned when he heard the government actively obstructing members of Parliament’s Health Committee from inspecting the Afari Military Hospital.
In a post on X, Richard Ahiagbah wrote, “Why is President Mahama letting Mr Akandoh Toy With Our Lives?
I have tried to approach this issue as apolitically as possible. Healthcare is not an NDC or NPP matter; it is a matter of life and death. Having personally experienced both the strengths and profound shortcomings of our healthcare system, I know firsthand the extraordinary sacrifices our doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals make every single day. Most of them are angels in human form.
That is why I was stunned to learn yesterday about the government actively obstructing members of Parliament’s Health Committee from inspecting the Afari Military Hospital. What exactly is the government trying to achieve with that obstruction?
Parliament’s oversight responsibility is a constitutional mandate, not a privilege granted at the whim of the Executive. At a time when the recent crisis at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has exposed the immense pressure on our healthcare delivery, one would expect the government to embrace transparency and be sensitive to public sentiment rather than upset it.
The events at KATH reminded us that the hospital is buckling under severe overcrowding and structural constraints. Doctors, nurses, and administrators are working at the absolute limits of available infrastructure. Instead of confronting the root causes of the crisis, the Health Minister, Mintah Akandoh, directed his frustration and blame at the very professionals managing the pressure on his behalf.
That response was both insensitive and deeply misguided. If the objective is to save lives, attacking those tasked with saving them cannot be the solution. President Mahama should have immediately called his Minister to order.
The reality is that the pressure on KATH did not arise overnight. That is precisely why the previous NPP administration invested heavily in healthcare infrastructure across the country and in the Ashanti Region.
Consider the numbers:
The 500-bed Afari Military Hospital
The Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua
The District Hospitals at Trede and Kokoben
Together, these facilities represent nearly 1,000 additional hospital beds. They were built for a singular purpose: to expand healthcare access and permanently relieve the burden on KATH. Yet today, despite being substantially completed, they remain locked, empty, and unavailable to the people they were built to serve.
The question Ghanaians must ask President Mahama is simple: If KATH is overwhelmed, why are these hospitals not operational?
Doctors and nurses have a duty to care for the sick, but that duty depends on a government providing the beds, equipment, logistics, and facilities necessary for them to do their jobs. No doctor or nurse can compensate for completed hospitals that are locked away behind political red tape.
The problem is not our healthcare workers. The problem is a glaring failure of leadership, empathy, and urgency.
President Mahama must act today to ensure the following:
1. The immediate operationalization of the Trede and Kokoben District Hospitals, alongside the Ashanti Regional Hospital at Sewua.
2. Provide the final remaining resources required to commission the Afari Military Hospital fully.
These facilities were built to save Ghanaian lives. They were built to prevent the exact crisis we just witnessed at KATH. The point here is clear.
The remedy to overcrowded hospitals is not outrage directed at healthcare workers. It is not political grandstanding. And it certainly is not the obstruction of parliamentary oversight.
The answer is leadership.
The answer is accountability.
The answer is sensitivity.
The answer is, Mr President, crack the whip. And the ultimate answer is opening the hospitals that are already waiting to serve the good people of Ghana.
Until that happens, every future crisis at KATH will stand as a grim reminder that this NDC-Mahama government is failing to deploy available state resources to save lives”.
His comments followed a recent inspection by Minority members of Parliament’s Health Committee, led by Ranking Member Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, as they visited several health facilities in the Ashanti Region.
The tour comes amid concerns of strain on the health infrastructure at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
See the post below:
Why Is President Mahama Letting Mr. Akandoh Toy With Our Lives?
— Richard Ahiagbah (@RAahiagbah) June 11, 2026
I have tried to approach this issue as apolitically as possible. Healthcare is not an NDC or NPP matter; it is a matter of life and death. Having personally experienced both the strengths and profound shortcomings…
