BY Grace Zigah
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has turned its attention to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), the premier referral facility, over its failure to recover a judgment debt of GH¢113,000.
The committee has directed the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Yakubu Seidu Adam, to personally refund the amount within 90 days.
The debt stems from two separate cases of negligence at the hospital. In one instance, a patient died after being administered an overdose of medication.
In another, the family of a deceased person was forced to exhume and rebury their relative after a mix-up in the release of mortal remains.
Both cases ended in costly compensations awarded against the hospital, pushing financial pressure onto an already burdened public health institution.
During a sitting on Monday, September 29, 2025, the PAC questioned why the hospital had failed to recover the money from the officers whose lapses directly caused the judgment debts.
Ranking Member of the Committee, Samuel Atta-Mills, reminded Dr. Adam of an earlier recommendation that the hospital leadership should recover the money from the negligent officers and lodge it into the Auditor-General’s Recoveries Account at the Bank of Ghana.
“We recommended that the Acting Chief Executive Officer should recover the total amount of GH¢113,000 from the officers whose negligence occasioned the payment of judgment debt… Have you done that?” Atta-Mills asked.
In response, Dr. Adam admitted that the recovery had not been made.
“Hon. Chair, we haven’t done that,” he stated, while attempting to explain the delay. But before he could elaborate further, Atta-Mills interjected, stressing accountability and responsibility. “Our Chief Executive Officer, we give you 90 days to pay this GH¢113,000,” he ordered.
