Reports emanating from the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) indicate that the senior staff are divided following the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer for the facility.

This follows the refusal of the former CEO of the hospital, Dr Prosper Akanbong, to vacate his post for the newly appointed Dr David Zaawumya Kolbila to take over.

Dr Akanbong, who was appointed in 2014, has refused to hand over to Dr Kolbila, a gynaecologist and lecturer at the University for Development Studies Medical School.

According to him, the government, through the Ministry of Health, is supposed to compensate him, hence he is awaiting the package before he hands over.

Reporting on happenings at the hospital on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Chief Jerry Forson, Accra News’ Northern regional correspondent, Mohammed Gadafi, said: “Since yesterday I have been interacting with the staff of the hospital and a number of them seem to be supporting the current CEO and others are also supporting the newly appointed CEO. There seems to be a mixed reaction.

“Some believe that Dr Kolbila can deal with the challenges facing the hospital, they believe he will instil discipline and sanity within the hospital.”

Meanwhile, the newly appointed CEO has expressed optimism that the former CEO will vacate his office for him to take over.

Commenting on this development in an interview with Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on 505 on Class91.3FM on Monday June 12, Dr Kolbila said: “This morning, I was supposed to take over from Dr Akanbong, but he said he hadn’t received any directive from the Minister of Health to hand over, he said he [was] awaiting some letters from the Minister, he said he had had other negotiations with the minister, so he is waiting for responses before he can hand over. He said he is prepared to hand over anytime that these letters get to him.”

He added: “He said he sent a reminder in writing to the minister on Friday and he is awaiting response. I was supposed to resume on the 1st of June …but he said he hadn’t received the directive to hand over yet.

“He said he was not against the new appointment and not against handing over, but he said he wants due process, he wants to be duly compensated so he needed responses from the Minister of Health on some issues they had discussed with him before he can hand over.”