The concerned citizens of the Upper East Region

A PRESS RELEASE BY CONCERN CITIZENS OF UPPER EAST ON THE NUMEROUS PROBLEMS CAUSED BY DR.AWOONOR WILLIAMS OF THE REGIONAL HEALTH DIRECTORATE-UE/R

Bearing in mind the importance of health to lives of our people in the Upper East Region, we the concern citizens of Upper East Region have observed a number of acts of unprofessionalism being exhibited my the current Regional Director of Health. As a result, we deem it fit to let the cat out of the bag rather than remaining mute about issues that had the tendency of causing harm to the lives of the good people of Upper East Region and for that matter Ghana. To begin with, we would want to outline a number of events that has taken place within the health directorate under the auspices of Dr. Awoonor who to us is bringing undeserving glory to the said doctor to the disadvantage of the deprived people of this part of our country. The untold hardship that the people face as a result of the doctor’s behavior is the motivation behind this publication.
Residents of Bolgatanga municipality, on the morning of Friday September 24, 2010 witnessed a procession of about 60 local youth participating in a “Health Walk.” The youth were walking through the principal streets of Bolgatanga wearing T-Shirts that read “Leadership By example, Dr. J.K Awoonor Williams, Reg. Director of Health Services (Upper East Region)” at the front with the regional director’s picture and the back read “Thank you Dr. J.K Awoonor-Williams you have demonstrated Sterling Leadership.” The procession was heading to the office of Dr. Koku Awoonor-Williams, the Upper East Regional Health Director. A local organization, the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy. (NORPRA) is responsible for the organization of this event. We have concrete information that the Regional Director of Health funded and requested that this event be held to help with his media campaign that he does frequently. This is of concern to us because the reality of the health affairs in this region is that the regional director does not have the people of the Upper East as a priority. His priority is to leave here with a legacy of buildings that he has renovated and landscaping that he has done on the premises of the health directorate which he is calling the “White House of the Upper east Region.” The truth is that Dr. J.K Awoonor-Williams is not an example of good leadership. He is an example of propaganda, divide rule and has put enough fear in the health personnel of the Upper East Region that no one is bold enough to come out and confront his failed leadership. Instead he spends more time orchestrating superficial events that will portray him as a good example. Upper East region is tired of this and we want to set the record straight. Hopefully this will lead to the beginning of a solution to the many problems we have with health care delivery.
The district health facilities in the Upper East Region are surviving on a very low budget where they are even having difficulty in providing CHP nurses fuel in order for them to offer health services at doorsteps. Instead, the regional health director is pressurizing them to release the little funds they have as contribution toward the construction of a conference center. This translates to us that we are not the priority of the regional health director. We are all afraid to go to the health care facilities in this region because not only are they understaffed with doctors, but they are also not equipped with supplies. People have died because basic oxygen tanks were empty. People have died from basic hernia operations.
Instead of tackling these issues, Dr. Awoonor-Williams spends a lot of money on individual and groups who will give him praises which he does not deserve. BONABOTO approval of the regional health director is divided because the members have slowly come to realize his hidden agenda to manipulate matters for his personal satisfaction.
The concerned citizens of the Upper East Region would like to appeal to the health workers and residents of the Upper East Regionto demand that the regional health director lift the dubious embargos that he has placed on various personnel’s salaries. There are dedicated nurses whose salaries have been put on hold for very trivial reasons. Meanwhile there are also personnel who are collecting salaries that are higher than the job title they have on record. For example, a health personnel collecting the salary of an officer, is actually performing the job as a security or casual worker. It is because of the favoritism syndrome that is occurring in the health directorate. This is also the regional health director’s way to keep loyal spies who will protect his dubious transactions.
The Upper East Region is among the three northern regions where there is constant evidence of shortage in medical doctors. Dr. Awoonor-Williams assumed his position as Upper East Regional health director in 2007 and his style of management has been a divide and rule method that is affecting the health and well being of the people in this region.
He formed alliances with influential individuals and groups such as the BoNaBoTo, to force the transfer of Dr. Amiah, who was the medical director of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital. The untold story of Dr. Amiah is that he has sacrificed for the people of the Upper East Region of Ghana for 18 years. He made attempts to gain transfer from the Upper East Region so that his young children could have a good education foundation which was absent in the region until recently. Dr. Amiah is also a man of high integrity and principles. Dr. Awoonor-Williams came to this region on a mission to get rid of the medical director who in his view was a threat because he is a native of the Upper East Region, the medical director is one of the few surgeons in Ghana, and the regional director is not a surgeon. The concern youth therefore saw this move by Dr. Awoonor as unacceptable and unfortunate and therefore vehemently condemn the act with alacrity. At this juncture, we would like to sound a strong warning to the Regional Director not to take the good people of Upper East Region for granted and therefore vow to use all means possible including demonstrations to further expose his parochialism, inhumanity and misdeeds. Dr. Awoonor-Williams wooed local media individuals and groups with presents and monetary gifts so as to publicly defame Dr. Amiah when Dr. Amiah left the country for China in September 2009. Dr. Awoonor-Williams misled the media by telling them that Dr. Amiah is the reason why doctors are refusing to come to the upper east region to work. We would want to emphatically creates his awareness that before his transfer to Upper East, Dr. Amiah who had several opportunities to remain in abroad to practice, had to sacrifice to come home as the only messiah to liberate the numerous health problems that were experienced in those days. How then can such a good son of the region certainly turn not to love the very people for whose reason he abandoned lucrative financial benefits for? We see this as a total calculated plan just to satisfy the interest of this so called traitor.

Dr. Awoonor Williams was successful at transferring Dr. Amiah and now Dr. Anongura is next in line. But Bolgatanga is fed up with this and we are pushing against it. It is just unfortunate our brothers at NORPRA who many of us look up to advocate for the good of the region rather failed to take a critical analysis and interpretation of Dr. Awoonor’s attitude but chose to lavish praises to an undeserved personality. We would rather urge them to emulate BONOBOTO by making a deep investigation into Dr. Awoonor’s administration and they will see that their decision was woefully wrong but only meant to advance the bad agenda of a highly dangerous doctor. Awoonor-Williams is winning the hearts of top ranking officials in the ministry of health with his soft voice and pathological lying. This must end. He is in the wrong business if he wants to be making money and forcing for recognition when the lives of people in this region is at stake.

The health director, nurses and residents acknowledged that we do not have enough of medical doctors, yet the regional director of health has never consulted in any of the hospitals. Yet he conducts operations. Where in this world can a doctor just get up and conduct operations without consulting to know the patient profile for himself. Instead, medical assistants are the ones consulting with patients. He finds comfort conniving to get the few doctors out. In his tenure, more doctors have left the region because he manipulates and makes life uncomfortable for them. Prominent among them are Dr. Razak, Dr. Amiah and Dr. Asana. As it stands now, our insight investigations has portrayed that he has his eyes on Dr. Anongura and Yembila, but they are ready to stand up against him and we challenged him and his followers to call on an independent investigatory body to prove the facts they are putting across.

We are very grateful for the Cuban doctors and their dedication. It was however disturbing when sometime in June, the regional director of health announced that he had been able to get doctors to come to the region. The regional minister was so happy that he had a party in honour of the doctors. At the party, as speakers thanked the doctors for coming to the region. It was at this juncture that one of the doctors stood up to reveal that they were still in medical school in Cuba and that as part of their curriculum in Cuba, they were supposed to come back home for observation . They also disclosed that they were in the Upper East Region for only a month and not long term as it had been loudly announced. This was absolute embarrassment to the regional director. He has slowly revealed his nature of fabricating and framing stories to make him look like the hero while he spends energy defaming other officials who speak against his fake facade. This is not leadership by example and we denounce the health walk by the youth who were obviously coerced into partaking in this activity.

SPOKES PERSON: TITUS ABOTISONGRE
PHONE NUMBER: 0547245290