When Professionals Become Political Propagandists: The Dangerous Politicisation of Ghana’s Institutions

The Ridge Hospital saga not only exposed weaknesses in our healthcare delivery system but also revealed a disturbing trend in how some public officials handle matters of grave importance.

In the middle of the controversy, the Greater Accra Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Health Service, Madam Sarah Danquah, appeared on national television and insisted that there was video evidence showing the man involved in the incident slapping a pregnant nurse. She boldly declared that the incident happened exactly as it had been reported. Strangely enough, the official committee of inquiry had already concluded its work, and the findings were completely different. There was no evidence of a physical assault, no fractures, no dislocations, only a verbal altercation. Could it be that no one was invited to the committee from the Ridge Hospital, or is it a mere plot to tarnish the image of the government? Your guess is as good as mine!

This raises very troubling questions. The core mandate of a PRO is to provide accurate, verified, and balanced information to the public. A PRO is not a prosecutor, not a judge, and certainly not a political propagandist. To insist on claims that later turned out to be false was to depart from that mandate entirely. By doing so, Madam Sarah Danquah risked misleading the public, undermining the credibility of the committee’s findings, and dragging the Ghana Health Service into unnecessary disrepute. Instead of protecting the image of the institution, she fed into the public’s cynicism about whether official communication can ever be trusted.

What makes matters worse is that her actions were no different from those of the medical doctor who earlier openly threatened journalists over the same issue. Both individuals acted in ways that go against the ethics of their professions and the expectations of the offices they hold. One must then ask: what motivated them to behave in such a reckless manner? Was it mere incompetence, or was there something more sinister behind it? If their actions had anything to do with politics, then we are indeed doomed as a nation. For essential service providers to stoop so low as to embellish a story, intimidate the media, and distort facts just to curry political favour is not only diabolical but also dangerous.

Sadly, this is not happening in isolation. Our security agencies and judicial system are already being widely perceived as political tools. This perception, whether accurate or not, is eroding confidence in institutions that are supposed to be impartial. When the police, the courts, and now even health officials appear compromised by partisan interests, the very foundations of our democracy are shaken. A nation where truth is bent to suit party colours is not a nation governed by justice but by impunity.

Ghana is gradually becoming so politicised that one must either belong to the NPP or the NDC to survive. This is not governance; it is political clientelism. It corrodes fairness, compromises justice, and emboldens people to do wrong knowing their political alignment will shield them. If left unchecked, this culture will leave the ordinary Ghanaian with no protection and no recourse to truth.

The Ridge Hospital saga should therefore serve as more than a passing scandal. It should stand as a warning that when professionals abandon their mandates—when PROs turn into political propagandists and doctors into political mouthpieces, the country loses more than credibility; it loses the very principles of accountability and fairness. Ghana cannot afford this dangerous descent into partisan capture of every institution. If we do not correct this path, we will soon wake up to find that nothing in our democracy is sacred anymore. And when that day comes, the slide from politicisation to political unrest will not just be possible, it will be inevitable.

Ghanaians are watching!
FAB's Gist.