More on Public Health care, or Korle-Bu; & How ECOBANK Won the Day

I woke up to the news on CITI-FM about the 14-yr-old boy who was suing Korle-Bu for having been operated on the wrong leg. Briefly taken aback, I was very happy that I had been given the opportunity to comment on something that had preoccupied me the whole weekend, and that was evidently the passing of Nana Amma, mentioned earlier, who had passed away from complications surrounding an operation for brain tumour.

When I got to work, I made sure that I called with the contribution that ran something like this:

I think it’s important that whilst we are talking about Korle-Bu, we also bring in the question of private versus public health care. A lot of people might be tempted to beg or borrow money to go private, because they hear it is faster and more efficient. As I indicated, my good friend passed away at a private institution, and that, for me, speaks volumes. The more we talk about the negative aspects of Korle-Bu, the more we might go to feed the perception that private is better. We should also be talking about public investment in our public health care institutions. A debate needs to be had so that people’s relatives don’t go dying [in droves] on us…”

I suspect I rambled a bit, but I called my Mum to check whether the argument was sufficiently coherent; she agreed in the affirmative. However, one thing I forgot was to include the fact that when something goes wrong in a private hospital, no-one gets to hear about it, but once it’s Korle-Bu, it’s as if it’s the worst institution in the country!

The debate evidently continues, but I am glad that CITI FM decided to spend a large amount of time covering it…as well as the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) Awards, which was, foolishly in my view, sponsored by AREEBA Ghana—yet again!

On the news front, ECOBANK has won, according to the Daily Graphic the most-covetted “Bank of the Year”. Here’s the Graphic article:

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Ecobank Tops Them All

(5/8/2006)


Ecobank Ghana Limited has been adjudged the Bank of the Year 2005, the fourth time, at the Ghana Banking Awards ceremony in Accra at the weekend.

The award ceremony, which was on the theme: “Efficiency and Competitiveness in Banking Industry”, saw 19 banks receiving various awards in 12 categories namely, Best Corporate Bank, Best Retail Bank, Best Product Innovation, Best Bank in IT infrastructure, Best Growing Bank and Best Bank in Trade Financing.

The rest of the categories are Best Competitive Pricing, Best Bank in Advisory Services, Best Bank in Customer Care, Most Socially Responsible Bank, Best in Short Term Loan Financing and Best Bank Long-term Loan Financing.

Commenting on the awards, the Managing Director of Ecobank Ghana, Mr Samuel A. Adjei, said it was due to the hard work and the focus given to the various products which were tailored to the needs of their customers.

Mr Adjei commended the bank’s customers and members of the staff for their commitment to the bank and said the award would urge his team to aspire for more laurels.

Ecobank won in several other categories including Most Socially Responsible Bank, Best Growing Bank, Long-term Loan and Short-term Financing, Best in IT, Trade Finance as well as the Best in Corporate Banking.

Merchant Bank, Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank, Unibank, Standard Trust, Standard Chartered Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, SG-SSB Bank, among others, had plaques, handshakes and certificates.

Mr Afotey Odarteifio, the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG), the organisers of the programme, said the award was to give the banks an even playing field that would have a positive effect on the consuming public.

He said the aim of CIG was to work towards the creation of an excellent corporate environment in the country.

Story by Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu

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Till the 25th of May!!