By Grace Zigah
In a bold and sweeping move aimed at enhancing efficiency and aligning leadership with evolving national health priorities, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has re-assigned 13 top officials, including long-serving programme managers and deputy directors.
The changes are scheduled to take effect from May 19, 2025.
The restructuring, authorized by Acting Director-General of the GHS, Professor Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, affects some of the country’s most critical health programs.
Among those reassigned are Dr. Kezia Malm, head of the National Malaria Elimination Programme; Dr. Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI); and Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, the national coordinator for the AIDS Control Programme.
A circular announcing the changes was dispatched to all divisional and regional directors of health, stating that the move forms part of a broader national strategy to strengthen health systems management, improve performance, and adapt to emerging public health challenges.
While the document did not detail the specific reasons behind each reassignment, it emphasized the need for renewed leadership to drive reforms and innovation across key sectors.
This wave of reassignments represents the most significant internal shake-up at the GHS in recent years and is likely to have major implications for policy continuity and program delivery.
Some of the affected directors have been at the helm of their respective programs for over a decade, leading high-impact interventions including malaria control, HIV/AIDS response, and immunization campaigns.
The decision to rotate these senior officers comes against the backdrop of Ghana’s ongoing efforts to meet Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets and to implement lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed systemic weaknesses and prompted calls for a more resilient public health leadership structure.
GHS insiders have described the reshuffle as both “timely and strategic,” with others cautioning that the transitions must be handled delicately to avoid disruptions in critical services.
Some stakeholders have called for transparency in the selection of successors and a clear communication strategy to maintain public confidence in ongoing health programs.
The move also signals a desire by Professor Akoriyea, who assumed the role of Acting Director-General in January 2025, to assert his leadership vision by reshaping the managerial framework of the service.
His tenure so far has been marked by a drive toward digital health integration, improved service delivery metrics, and the decentralization of decision-making.
The full list of new appointments has been made available to all regional offices, and the GHS is expected to issue further communication on handover timelines and transition support mechanisms in the coming days.
