The Ghana Medical and Dental Council (GMDC) is to withdraw Sulley Ali-Gabass’ professional licence from its register by the end of this month, in line with the Health Professional Regulatory Bodies Act, Act 857.
This follows his conviction by the Accra Circuit Court for defilement.
Conviction
Ali-Gabass, a medical doctor at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital in Sekondi, was last Monday sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment after the Accra Circuit Court found him guilty of defiling a 16-year-old male student.
Revocation
[contextly_sidebar id=”GY6CjUvvR0QjTnBgq7YISwE3HEUKNaJf”]In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Registrar of the GMDC, Dr Eli Atikpui, said the move to revoke Ali-Gabass’ professional licence would be in line with Section 37(c) of the Health Professional Regulatory Bodies Act 2013, Act 857.
Section 37(c) of Act 857 provides that where a health practitioner is sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a criminal offence, the matter will be referred to the Disciplinary Committee of the council to look into before revoking his or her licence.
Dr Atikpui said the process involved the matter being forwarded to a Penal Cases Committee to find out whether or not the practitioner had a case to answer.
He said it was after a prima facie case had been established against the practitioner that the matter was forwarded to the Disciplinary Committee of the council.
He said in Ali-Gabass’ case, he had been convicted and sentenced to prison and his matter would no longer go through the Penal Cases Committee but would be forwarded to the Disciplinary Committee for its sanctions.
Reactions
Meanwhile, Ali-Gabass’ colleagues at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital and a Muslim cleric have expressed their views on the incarceration of the medical officer, reports Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah from Sekondi.
The Head of Administration of the hospital, Mr K.K. Boachie, was sad about the development, but said, ‘‘We, however, wish him well and ask for God’s guidance and good health for him.
“It is rather unfortunate but the law has taken its course and justice has been done to the victim because due process was taken by a competent court of jurisdiction and the accused was given the chance to defend himself.”
He stressed that once the court had spoken, that was the end, adding that those who were into such criminal activities must take a cue from the judgement and behave responsibly.
Mr Boachie suggested to the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service to put in place surveillance and monitoring systems to regularly check on the behaviour of all health workers.
He said such a system would enable the two bodies to delve deep into the background of members of staff of the various health institutions, so that those who were found to engage in abnormal behaviours and attitudes would quickly be identified, counselled and corrected.
‘‘We shouldn’t wait for something to happen before we find solutions to them. Dr Ali-Gabass’s imprisonment has brought an embarrassment to everybody in the health profession and to avoid a future recurrence, let’s put in place a proper surveillance system,’’ he added.
Other health personnel the Daily Graphic spoke to at the hospital said although they found the sentence harsh, they admitted the law had taken its course.
For his part, the Western Regional President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Mr Yusuf Kofi Gyampson, who quoted some Quranic verses to lash at the incarcerated medical doctor, insisted that Islam frowned on gayism and lesbianism, adding, “The sentence serves him right. As a doctor and Muslim, he should have known better.”
Source: Graphic Online