Saturday, May 15, 2021.
I would like to look at our problems in another way. It is as if as a people, we have vowed to be against decentralisation. Everything must be ‘centralised’ in Accra (and Kumasi).
We have created systems (in health and other areas) where everbody in Ghana must at one point or the other go to Accra (or Kumasi). I call it the ‘Mecca situation’. I first wrote about this a few weeks ago and nearly got into trouble.
Everybody must go to Accra at some point. I mentioned that one cannot become a Fellow of the Ghana College of Surgeons or the West African College of Surgeons if one does not go to Accra (or Kumasi). I do not know anybody yet in Ghana who has trained to become a Fellow without going to Accra or Kumasi.
If I want to be a Fellow, I must leave Battor and go to Accra or Kumasi. This system affects all of us in a way.
Our politicians (especially those outside Accra and Kumasi) need to understand this. The solution is decentralisation, otherwise we are all at risk with our families, friends and loved ones.
“If you don’t go to Mecca, you cannot become an Alhaji. In Ghana, in the medical practice, if you don’t go to Korle Bu/Accra or Komfo Anokye/Kumasi, you cannot become a Fellow.” – Dr. Kofi Effah.
An interesting post about the no bed syndrome is available here
[…] Response from a friend (a nurse who works outside our ‘Mecca’ – Accra/Kumasi): […]