The newly constituted 17-member Board of Directors for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) in Ghana is too big, Professor Kwaku Asare, a private legal practitioner, has said.

According to him, the number could have been pegged at seven, instead of 17.

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, last week inaugurated the board of directors for the NHIA. He noted the scheme was at a critical stage and needed the full expertise of the board to redeem its image.

The Board which is chaired by a former President of the Ghana Medical Association, Prof Yaw Adu-Gyamfi, also includes the Chief Executive of the NHIA, Dr Samuel Yaw Annor; a Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye-Gyedu; a Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare; the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare; and the National Insurance Commissioner, Lydia Lariba Bawa.

Others are Dr Dennis Addo of the Social Welfare Department, Kwasi Ampadu-Kissi of SSNIT, Dr Isaac Charles Noble Morrison of the Medical and Dental Commission, and Rev Richard Kwasi Yeboah of Organised Labour. President Akufo Addo also appointed Dr Sylvester Yaw Oppong and Joyce Zimpare to the Board.

The rest of the members are Anna Pearl Akiwumi-Siriboe, a legal practitioner; Dr Nicholas Ankomah Tweneboa, a health professional; Vahandi-Naa Dr Mohammed Nantogmah Mahama, also a health professional; and Kwasi Asante, with a finance background.

But commenting on this matter on his Facebook page, Prof Asare said: “It is hard for me to understand why NHIS needs a Board of 17 members and impossible for me to believe that a Board, this size, can be effective. In fact, I expect coordination and communication problems to cripple such a board.

“Wherefore, I propose that Parliament should do SOE governance reform capping Board size at 7.”