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Today can confirm that about fourteen (14) people including the Board Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital have been dragged to court for the “unlawful interdiction” of a pharmacist of the hospital, Mr. Charles Ofei-Palm.

Today discovered that a letter which was written and signed by Mr. Samuel Akutua Atweri for and on behalf of the CEO of the hospital, Dr. Gilbert Buckle, on March 24, 2016 affirmed the interdiction of Charles Ofei-Palm.

His interdiction, our sources at the hospital said, was premised on the grounds that he granted an interview to an Accra-based radio station, Class 91.3 FM, on matters of the hospital without recourse to the media policy of the hospital, thereby constituting a breach.

The said letter also indicated that everything that Mr. Ofei-Palm said during the interview, particularly about the management, was untrue.
According to the letter, “pronouncements made during the said interview tarnished the image of the hospital and also brought the name of the hospital into disrepute.”

“His [Mr. Ofei-Palm’s] pronouncements constituted an act of prejudicial to the management of the hospital,” the interdiction letter added.

Meanwhile, in a writ filed at the Human Rights Division of the High Court against Prof. Anthony Mawuli Sallar, Dr. Gilbert Buckle, Prof. Jennifer Wellbeck, Mr. Robert Kempes Ofosuware, Mrs. Perpetual Praise Annan, Mr. Henrietta Paidoo, Dr. Samuel Asiamah, Mrs. Florence Ama Nkansah, Mr. Benjamin Abrakwa, Mrs. Victoria Quaye, Mr. Nurudeen Mohammed, Mr. Kwame Gyamfi, Mr. Samuel Akutu Atweri and Mr. Stephen Pedison Aryeh (all except Mr. Kwame Gyamfi, Mr. Samuel Akutu Atweri and Mr. Stephen Pedison Aryeh who are board members which Today intercepted, Mr. Ofei-Palm indicated that his interdiction was wrong since the pre-condition requirements were not satisfied before he was interdicted.

He stated in his supporting affidavit that the precondition requirements have been provided under the Hospital’s Disciplinary Policies and Procedures as captured in the Ghana Health Service (GHS) Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

He contended that by the stated Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures, the CEO can only interdict a staff member after certain conditions have been satisfied, but in his case he said “these have been glossed over by the CEO who deemed it appropriate to sack me [Mr. Ofei-Palm] without recourse to laid down procedures.”

He further mentioned in his affidavit that before an act of interdiction can take place, the offence must first be reported by the officer-in-charge of the Unit under which the offending staff member works, “and the said officer shall document the incident and make a formal report within three working days to his immediate superior authority where applicable.”

“That the officer-in-charge shall institute a preliminary investigation into the case to establish its authority and further details within three working days of the receipt of the report.

“… that the investigation takes the form of interview with the person concerned or letter of enquiry and inspection of documents and premises. That where the result of the preliminary investigation points conclusively to a minor offense, the officer-in-charge shall apply the appropriate sanctions within three working days,” the writ said.

He pointed out that but where the results point to a major offence the officer-in-charge shall proceed with formal disciplinary proceedings and take any action including interdiction, issuance of query or setting up a committee of inquiry.

According to him, all the above stated grounds of interdiction were not met before the action was taken against him; hence his decision to take legal action against the board and management of the hospital.

He stated that after serving the affected parties, the Disciplinary Committee decided to meet him on April 6, 2016 to hear his side of the story of the alleged misconduct.

However, having been satisfied that he had not been served with notice to appear, he said, the chairperson postponed the Disciplinary Committee’s hearing and directed that he (the applicant) be served with notice to appear before the Committee.

“That notwithstanding, the awareness of Suit No HR/0049/2016, Respondents acting through the 2nd Respondent upon purported recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee terminated my employment by virtue of a letter dated 6th April, 2016,” he said.

According to him, the respondents having been made aware of the writ should not have gone ahead to draft and execute his termination letter.

But doing that, he said, they interfered with the administration of justice.

He, therefore, prayed the court to grant his application to declare his interdiction null and void and commit the Respondents to prison for contempt and for defying the authority of the court.

Meanwhile, when Today on Friday, July 22, 2016 called the Public Relations Officer (PRO), of Korle-Bu via telephone, Mr. Mustapha Salifu, could neither deny nor confirm the issue.

The Korle-Bu PRO simply said this to our reporter, “we are not granting interviews on the court action now.”