The Tafo Government Hospital’s administration detained a self-described medical doctor who claimed to be employed at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, according to state prosecutors.
On Tuesday, February 6, in a circuit court at Old Tafo in Kumasi, the 32-year-old suspect, Prince Agyapong, was charged with defrauding by false presence, in violation of Section 131 of the Criminal Offences Act, Act 29 of 1960.
A second charge of willfully and falsely practicing medicine in violation of Section 48 of the Health Professional Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857) has also been brought against him.
The prosecutor, Detective Inspector S. K. Oppong, informed the court that the suspect brought an octogenarian patient to the aforementioned medical facility on Monday, February 5, at approximately ten in the morning. The suspect was dressed in medical attire and had a name tag. He informed the staff that he was a physician affiliated with the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
According to testimony given in court, the suspect told the hospital that he looked after the patient at home and that the patient needed medical attention because his health was getting worse.
However, the majority of the facility’s staff members who worked in the Open Public Department (OPD) grew suspicious and started to doubt the suspect’s identity, as well as the KATH unit where he was stationed. He was taken into custody right away for not providing a logical response.
At the Tafo Pankrono Station, where he was being held, he was turned over to the police. As per the prosecution’s investigation caution statement, the suspect acknowledged that he is not a physician employed at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
One sphygmomanometer, several syringes, cotton wool, a stethoscope, and a tourniquet were found in his handbag. An additional examination of his Ahwiaa home turned up a digital sphygmomanometer. Every item has been retrieved and is now on display. Later, the suspect was ready and presented to the judge.
On both charges, Agyapong has entered a not-guilty plea. But to support police investigations, the prosecution begged the court to remand the suspect into police custody.
The request was granted by the court, and the suspect was placed under arrest with instructions to return on February 27, 2024.
