Produce Dr. Obengfo! – Court Orders Ridge Hospital
An Accra Circuit Court has given the Administrator of the Greater Accra Regional Hospital seventy-two hours to produce, Dr. Dominic Kwame Obeng-Andoh, Medical officer of the Obengfo Hospital in Accra before the court.
The order from the court, presided over by Harriet Jane Akweley Quaye, follows the inability of the facility to produce the accused before the court yesterday.
Dr. Obengfo has been on admission at the facility, formally known as the Ridge Hospital in Accra days, after his arrest by the police over the alleged murder of Stacy Offei Darko, 37, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Entrepreneurship Innovative Programme (NEIP) at the Jubilee House.
The accused was expected to appear before the court over fresh charges in another case against him but he was not in court.
The prosecutor, ASP Stephen K. Adjei, urged the court to issue an order to the hospital, compelling it to produce the accused, a request the court granted.
He said the prosecution had received a letter titled ‘To Whom It May Concern’, indicating that Dr. Obengfo could be released for court with the assistance of a physician.
The judge, however, stated that she was yet to see a copy of the said letter and asked the prosecution to get her a copy.
In the latest wave of charges, Obengfo was slapped with practicing medicine without authority contrary to Section 48(d) of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013, Act 875.
He is to answer another charge of operating unlicensed health facility because, within the period January and December 2013, he failed to register with the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency as required by law.
The facts of the case are that the complainant, Dr. Eli Kwesi Atikpui, is a Medical Doctor and Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council in Accra, whilst the accused is also a medical practitioner and Medical Director of Obengfo Hospital, a private medical facility at Weija- Accra.
During the month of July 2015, the Medical and Dental Council, during routine monitoring exercise received information that the accused person had failed to renew his annual registration to practice as a Doctor and to operate a private health facility since 2013 but continued to practice in his private Hospital.
The Medical and Dental Council reported the matter to the police for investigation.
On December 28, 2016, Police went to Obengfo Hospital to arrest the accused for questioning but met him in the process of performing certain medical procedure on a witness in this case.
Further investigations disclosed that, the accused has also failed to license his health facility as required by law.
Dr. Obengfo was charged with the offences to appear before court but on February 6, 2017, he petitioned the Director General/CID on February, 7 2017 requesting for a review of the investigation conducted by the police CID based on which he was charged and was to appear before the court.
Consequently, the court process was temporarily put on hold and the case docket forwarded to the Attorney General’s office for their perusal and expert advice.
In a letter numbered GR/PD/31/18 dated 8th May 2018, the Attorney General’s office advised that, all charges earlier on preferred against the accused be maintained and he be arraigned before the court.
By: Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson
Comments are closed.