Court upholds Anaba’s dismissal

An Accra Human Rights Court presided by His Lordship Anthony Yeboah on Monday, 27 November, affirmed government’s decision to remove Dr Thomas Anaba from his post as Medical Superintendent of the Ridge Hospital.

Dr Anaba sued government over his dismissal from office and filed a writ praying the court to issue an order declaring that the “decision of the Minister of Health contained in the letter dated 10 May 2017 was unlawful and, therefore, null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.

He also prayed for an order “reinstating” him as “Medical Director, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ridge, in the Ghana Health Service or to an equivalent position in the Ghana Health Service without a reduction in the rank and other conditions of service”.

Dr Anaba was appointed amidst controversy on 1 February 2016 by President John Mahama. His appointment was to last till 2020 after which he would have had the option of reapplying to stay on. He was served with his dismissal letter on Monday, 15 May and asked to vacate post in two hours. He demanded to know if his dismissal had the blessing of the Public Services Commission and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Council – which were yet to be constituted at the time.

According to Minister of Health Kweku Agyemang-Manu, Dr Anaba has no managerial skills and is unfit to manage the hospital.

Meanwhile, counsel for the embattled doctor, Godwin Edudzi Tamekloe, has vowed to appeal the ruling.

According to Mr Tamekloe, the terms of condition under which his client works, differ from some other public service workers, and, therefore, “the removal of his client from his duty post contravenes the very laws which governs us as a people”.