NSS Boss turns woman abuser …nurses, midwives call for his sack

ALEX OPOKU-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Secretariat (NSS), is virtually on his knees, apologizing to all nurses in the country for storming the Manhyia Government Hospital and publicly raining nurses on a female nurse there while threatening he has the powers to get her sacked.

The Government appointee went throwing his weight about and misbehaving at the public hospital ostensibly to put the fear of God into his victim who he claimed was envious of his daughter, serving as a House Office at same hospital.

Unknown to Opoku-Mensah, he was secretly being recorded whilst he was verbally abusing the helpless and hapless nurse and threatening to get her sacked.

In addition to the derogatory comments, body-shamed the female nurse and told her that his daughter (doctor) was more brilliant and better than her in academic credentials and in all spheres of life.

The leadership of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) took offense and issued a statement that called for the dismissal of the woman-abuser Government appointee.

The statement said: The Public Services Commission and Government for that matter should sack the said Regional Director immediately because he is not fit for the Director position he holds in the Public Service. He had absolutely NO RIGHT to enter Manhyia District Hospital and verbally abuse and threaten the nurse in question who was on duty at the time. As a Director, he should have known that Manhyia District Hospital had a Medical Superintendent and a Nurse Manager under whom the nurse works and if indeed he had any complaint to make, they were the people he should have engaged and not to go to the hospital and fight the nurse on behalf of his daughter. We wish to state categorically that if the government does not relieve Mr. Alex Poku Mensah of his duty as Ashanti Regional Director of the National Service Scheme within 72 hours, nurses and midwives of Manhyia Hospital will be called upon to lay down their tools, followed by the whole of Ashanti Region and then it will be escalated to the whole nation.

The Management of Manhyia Hospital should ensure that the House Officer is schooled on her role in the Medical Team and the fact that Nurses and Midwives are patient’s advocates and will continue to advocate for their patients and clients even if it makes another member in the team uncomfortable.

In this particular instance, the nurse had used her own phone and her own call credit to call the said House Officer to come to the hospital and log into the E-Health system and update the patient’s prescription order so that the patient is not billed for unissued drugs. In order for peace and harmony to prevail at the facility, we additionally call on the management of the hospital to take all the professional staff through Team Building and Team Work to foster unity of purpose at the facility.

All nurses and midwives at the Manhyia District Hospital should remain calm and go about their normal duties and wait for further directives from the leadership of the Association which will happen if need be. Nurses and Midwives around the country are also called upon to continue providing quality nursing and midwifery services to the good people of Ghana and not to be distracted by the actions of Mr. Alex Poku Mensah and his daughter.
The GRNMA Ashanti Regional Branch leaders are directed to report the matter of Mr. Alex Poku Mensah’s verbal abuse and threats on our comrade to the Police immediately and report on same to the GRNMA Headquarters.

We call on all persons holding high positions in the Public or Civil Service to appreciate the fact that, the positions of authority or service they hold, simply involve responsibility to the public and never must be used to threaten, undermine or intimidate the same people it is supposed to serve.

But Opoku-Mensah, who has suddenly made a sharp U-turn, in a press release on Tuesday, apologized to the affected nurse and all other nurses in the country for insulting them.

Sounding remorseful, he said it is never his style to insult people, admitting that he got it wrong this time so he should be forgiven. He also promised not to repeat his actions again.

“I understand the disappointment and appreciate the inconvenience my action has caused the general public as well as the nursing fraternity Manhyia Hospital.

“This has never been my style but for a genuine reason to mediate a persistent issue between my daughter (Doctor) and a colleague nurse, who I as well consider my daughter.

“I do apologize for any mishap and assure all, there shall not be a repetition of such. I look forward to maintaining a cordial relationship between any affected person”, he apologized.

Meanwhile, the management of the NSS have started investigations into the conduct of Opoku-Mensah following allegations that he had insulted a nurse in Kumasi.

The outcome of their findings would help determine the fate of Opoku-Mensah who is certainly in difficult times now.