NPP Sacks Communicator Over The Attack On Tamale Teaching Hospital CEO

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Northern Region has taken an action to suspend a member of its communication team, Alhaji Baba Alhassan, following yesterday’s violent attack and removal of the Chief Executive Officer of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr. David Zawumya Kolbila from office by a notable regional pro-government vigilante force, the Kandahar Boys.

In a brazen attack Monday morning that shocked and frightened hospital staff and health seekers, over five unarmed members of the Kandahar Boys walked uninterruptedly into the only referral facility in the country’s north and burst into the CEO’s office and locked it up after ejecting him alongside a director of administration and a female secretary.

The party vigilante force accused the CEO of taking a unilateral decision, threatening staff with dismissal, illegally transfer of drugs to stock his private hospital and incompetence.

In a video of the attack, the attackers were seen asking the CEO and other occupants of the office to pack and leave.  The CEO was made to clear his table and paraded out down the three-story complex amidst unrestrained verbal denigrations.

Immediately after the attack, a member of the group claimed they took the action because residents of Tamale were displeased with the management style of Dr. Akolbila.

“We have locked up the place and the keys are with us. We took the action because we are concerned residents of Tamale and the people are not happy with him”, he stated

The attackers did not physically harm the CEO and no property in his office destroyed. He was only pushed out and taken away from the facility in a waiting private vehicle. He was not allowed to use his official vehicle and has remained in hideout.

Moments after the eviction, another group of the party arrived at the facility to stamp support for the group. That group was led by the party’s regional communications member, Alhaji Baba, who later granted interviews and justified the actions and threatened a next level showdown if the CEO returned to the office.

However, the New Patriotic Party in the region has distanced itself from the attack and attackers, however has moved to sanction a communicator for his role in the said attack.

The Regional Communications Director, Mohammed Issah confirmed that Alhaji Baba has been suspended from the communications team, explaining that the party “does not condone such acts of lawlessness in the communication team”.

“We tool him off because of his role in that particular saga. If you say that if you have asked or sacked the CEO of the hospital and that if president even appoints a different person who comes in there to behave that same way or in a manner, you don’t like you will still sack the person. That doesn’t speak well of any government communicator or party communicator”, the communication said.

Instead, the party would not handover the communicator to police but has referred his action to a disciplinary committee for further investigations.

The police have deployed men to the facility and they currently on 24hr guard.  Northern Regional Police spokesman, DSP Mohamammed Yussif Tanko said a probe was already underway to unravel the identity of the attackers and arrest them to face charges.

This is the second attack on a CEO of the hospital in just 20 months, however, the net effect of this particular attack overrun the boundaries of unwalled facility into the acephalous compound of the Regional Heath directorate, which has remained disorganized since its head, Dr. Samuel Quershie suffered similar dreadful harassment while on duty more than six months now.