Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng: The Heart Surgeon Who Built Ghana's Cardiac Future

Born in 1949, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng is a Ghanaian cardiothoracic surgeon who founded the National Cardiothoracic Centre at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, transforming cardiac care across West Africa.

His journey from medical student to pioneering surgeon, and later to controversial political figure, represents one of the most complex careers in contemporary Ghanaian public life.

Frimpong-Boateng graduated from the University of Ghana Medical School in 1975, winning the Easmon Prize as the best student in surgery. After completing his housemanship, he pursued postgraduate training at Hannover Medical University in Germany, qualifying as a general, cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon and becoming a pioneer of Hannover’s heart transplantation programme.

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In 1983, Frimpong-Boateng and his team performed their first heart transplant, and he led his first transplant as chief surgeon in October 1985. He achieved another milestone with the first heart-lung transplantation in Hannover in November 1988. Despite his success in Europe, he chose to return home.

In January 1989, Dr. Frimpong-Boateng returned to Ghana, built a team, and founded the National Cardiothoracic Centre, commissioned in 1992. That year, he became the first Ghanaian to use a heart-lung machine to replace the mitral valve. The centre now serves patients across West Africa, receiving referrals from Nigeria, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Togo.

The facility is recognised by the West African College of Surgeons as a centre for training heart surgeons, cardiologists, cardiac anaesthetists, nurses, and technicians. Frimpong-Boateng also established the Ghana Heart Foundation to assist patients unable to afford cardiac surgery.

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Academically, he joined the University of Ghana Medical School in 2000, became a full professor in 2002, and authored Deep Down My Heart: A History of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Ghana and Taming a Monster: Managing Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. He was elected a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and received numerous honours, including the Companion of the Order of the Volta in 2006.

Frimpong-Boateng entered politics with presidential ambitions. In 2006, he sought the New Patriotic Party (NPP) nomination for the 2008 elections, though Nana Akufo-Addo eventually secured the candidacy.

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When Akufo-Addo became president in 2016, Frimpong-Boateng was appointed Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. He chaired the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, tasked with combating galamsey. His tenure proved contentious, and he was removed in March 2020. A report he submitted in March 2021 implicated senior NPP officials and Chinese nationals in illegal mining. He claimed: “There was an orchestration within the party and the government to remove me.” The Attorney-General later declined to prosecute those named, citing insufficient evidence.

In January 2026, Frimpong-Boateng described the NPP as a “fake party,” blaming it for corruption, abuse of power, and its 2024 election defeat. He stated: “Look at how we lost the 2024 election: abuse of power, corruption, arrogance. The party could not stand up to anybody; everybody was doing what they wanted.”

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The NPP began expulsion proceedings, but he remained defiant, telling party executives to go “to hell” and refusing to participate in disciplinary processes. Critics accused him of producing a politically motivated report to discredit the party.

Dr. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng’s story is one of remarkable medical achievement shadowed by political controversy. He literally built the infrastructure that has saved countless lives and trained a generation of heart specialists. Yet his transition into politics and whistleblowing on illegal mining has left his reputation contested.

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Whether history remembers him as the visionary surgeon or the minister who exposed corruption may depend on which battles future Ghanaians value more: those fought in operating theatres or in the political arena. What remains undisputed is that Frimpong-Boateng refused to compromise on what he believed was right, regardless of personal cost.