Medical Negligence: How Achimota Hospital night shift doctor neglected late Nana Ampadu

According to one of Nana Ampadu’s sons, his father had been sick for the past 11 months but in the wee hours of Tuesday (September 28), he received a call that the singer’s condition had worsened.

“My father, for the past 11 months, has been ill. Unfortunately, at dawn, around 3:30, I had a call from my residence that my father's illness had worsened, so I and my brothers should rush to take him to the hospital,” Ampadu’s son, whose name is unknown, disclosed to Joy News.

He said the “Obra” hitmaker was rushed to the Achimota Hospital, but a doctor on a night shift’s sluggish response to the emergency case forced them to rush him to the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC), where he gave up the ghost.

“We did so at dawn to try as fast as possible, and we went to the Legon UGMC (University of Ghana Medical Centre) through to the Achimota Hospital, which we couldn't find any assistant there.”

“When we went there, the doctor was asleep. We banged the door, he came out and was rather asking us why we were banging the door so much after he said he is coming. We said, 'Oh, please, we are not here for arguments, we have a problem.' Then, he said we don't have to tell him, he already realised that we have a problem.”

He said after realizing that they could not find the help they needed, they took the singer to UGMC, but after efforts by the doctors there, he couldn’t survive.

“We found out that we couldn't have help there, so we had to extend our journey to the Legon UGMC hospital. The doctors tried as much as they could to revive him, but unfortunately, we lost our father, Nana Kwame Ampadu. He passed away at 5 am on Tuesday, September 28, 2021.”

Nana Kwame Ampadu is a composer, guitarist and singer who is known for his brilliant storytelling skills through highlife music.

Born at Obo-Kwahu in the Eastern Region, Kwame Ampadu formed the famous African Brothers band in 1963.

Regarded as ‘King of Highlife’, he is known for many hit songs like “Ebi Ti Yie,” “Aku Sika,” “Kofi Nkrabea,” “Obiaa Ba Nnye,” “Woyoo Woyoo,” “Mother,” “Mentumi Ngyae Wo,” “Agartha,” “Aye Se Ye Do Wo,” “Obra,” “Drivers,” “Anibere Nnye,” “Oman Bo Adwo,” and “Kwaata.”

Nana Ampadu also groomed and produced albums in the mid-to-late 1980s for female singers like Mum B, Akosua Agyapong, Abena Nyanteh, Ama Oforiwah, Rita Owusu and Stella Tackie.