The Obuasi Police have arrested Mr. Frederick Nickson Anokye, 63, for allegedly posing as a medical doctor in the area.
For nearly 20 years, the suspect popularly known as Dr. Fred, had allegedly run the usually busy Avril Keoughen Community Clinic in Akaporiso village near Obuasi without licence.
Luck, however, eluded him when he was recently arrested by the police in connection with an accident involving his cargo car which he had refused to report to the police.
During interrogation, Mr. Anokye asked the police to release him because he had patients waiting for him at his clinic.
This made the police to run checks on him with the directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Medical and Dental Council which revealed that he was a not a recognized medical doctor.
Confirming the arrest, a police source told The Finder newspaper last Thursday that Mr. Anokye was picked up on Monday, but released on a GH�2000 enquiry bail while investigations continued. He was asked to report to the Obuasi police daily.
The source said that sometime last month, Mr. Anokye�s car with registration number AS 6764-11 was involved in an accident on the Apam-Cape Coast road.
Speaking to newsmen after his release, Mr. Anokye confessed that he was not a licensed medical officer, but rather he was trained by the Church of Christ Mission Hospital as a primary healthcare provider.
He also created the impression that even though the clinic was not registered, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Obuasi Directorate of the GHS recognized his work.
According to the suspect, he had been providing healthcare for patients with malaria, tuberculosis and other primary healthcare cases.
Mr. Anokye denied having made a representation to the police and the society at large as being a medical doctor, explaining that it was rather members of the public who perceived him as such and often referred to him as �Dr. Fred.�
When asked why he made a representation in his statement to the police that he was a medical doctor by profession in a case involving his cargo truck, he said he was under duress at the time.
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