Busted! Kenneth Kwame Kwarteng
A 59-year-old self-styled medical practitioner has been arrested by the police with the assistance of Medical and Dental Council for allegedly performing an illegal abortion on a 17-year-old Form Three Senior High School (SHS) student at Ashongman Estate Last Stop.
The suspect Kenneth Kwame Kwarteng was arrested on Thursday morning at his clinic called Obaahemaah Memorial Clinic.
The victim, whose condition worsened after the unsafe abortion, was immediately rushed to the Legon Hospital for proper medical attention.
Arrest
Briefing the media, the Deputy Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Divine Banyubala, said the council received information about the activities of suspect who is not a doctor.
Information gathered indicated that suspect established the said clinic to perform abortions for patients who visit the facility.
On Thursday, August 23, 2018, the council, with the assistance of the Kwabenya Police, stormed the clinic to arrest the suspect; they saw a 17-year-old girl lying in the recovery room of the facility.
Further investigations revealed that an illegal abortion had been performed on the victim less than an hour before their arrival.
The team immediately called for an ambulance to evacuate the victim, together with her mother, to the Legon Hospital for proper medical attention.
The suspect was immediately arrested and conveyed to the Kwabenya Police Station.
Findings
At the Legon Hospital, Dr Banyubala said it was discovered that the suspect performed an incomplete abortion on the victim who was admitted for further treatment. The victim is still on admission and all expenses are being borne by the council.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the health facility, which was closed by the council yesterday, it was discovered that the suspect operated without the guidance of a health professional.
He had a reception, consulting room, which serves as his office, an injection room and two other rooms which he uses to perform his illegal abortion with a surgical bed while the other one serves as a recovery room with three beds.
A set of instruments suspected to have been used to perform the abortion and drugs were also seized by the police with the exception of the surgical bed and bucket.
The paper learnt that the suspect was previously operating a clinic at Agbogbloshie called New Vision Clinic.
He later moved to Ashongman Estate Last Stop a year ago to establish Obaahemaah Memorial Clinic.
The suspect, however, confessed at the police station that he had been operating at Ashongman for the past one year but his family lives abroad.
Kwarteng told the police that he normally charges patients depending on the number of weeks of the pregnancy.
He confessed that he charges between GH¢150 and GH¢180 but the mother of the 17-year-old girl admitted that he charged an amount of GH¢250.
When asked if he would perform an abortion for one of his two daughters, Kwarteng said he would rather refer the child to a higher health facility.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey