The Executive Director of the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), Bismark Adongo Ayorogo, has called for the seizure of the properties of the three staff members of the Upper East Regional Hospital and others involved when found guilty.
This, coupled with the prosecution, naming, and shaming of all individuals in the cartel stealing drugs at the Regional Hospital, would serve as a deterrent to others, he said.
He said the Ghana Police Service needs to step up its investigation to find out when these alleged thieves started stealing, who they are supplying the drugs to, and to punish those responsible harshly enough to dissuade others.
He made these assertions when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Daybreak Upper East show regarding an investigation by Media Without Borders that led to the arrest of three suspects for stealing 34 boxes of medicines belonging to the Upper East Regional Hospital.
Anti-corruption campaigner and former Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mr. Vitus Azeem, has also advocated for routine internal audits in various hospitals to address the misappropriation of medications intended for the general good.
He said the Upper East Region was one of the least developed Regions in the country and that there had always been difficulties attracting both human and material resources.
For this, he said he found it disappointing that the scarce resources were also being misused for personal benefit.
The hospital theft, according to the anti-corruption campaigner, exposed the monitoring system’s vulnerability and served as a warning to the public to be watchful and report any staff engaging in illegal behaviour to the appropriate authorities.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
