Eric Kutortse
THE FIRST Sky Group of Companies has pledged to partner the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to build Ghana’s first ever kidney transplant centre.
The announcement comes on the back of a successful collaboration between the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the First Sky Group which led to four persons undergoing kidney transplantation at the hospital in 2019.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Sky Construction Limited, a subsidiary of the First Sky Group, Ing. Ernest Nii Okai Hammond, made the announcement at the group’s 17th thanksgiving service held yesterday at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Announcing the group’s corporate social responsibility programmes for the year 2020, he said the Kidney Transplant Centre would have the capacity to serve Ghana and the whole of West Africa, indicating that the transplant centre would be ready by May 2020.
He said the First Sky Group would also continue to support the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
According to him, the First Sky Group donated funds to the hospital in 2019 towards the treatment of over 350 kidney patients. He disclosed that the group had spent over GH¢12 million on the free dialysis programme, adding that the group would further partner the hospital this year for additional two transplants.
Other CSR Programmes
According to him, the group would continue to support the National Road Safety Authority by donating an ambulance in support of saving lives in the event of road accident; he added that the group would construct five new church buildings, this year.
Thanksgiving Service
The 17th thanksgiving service was held under the theme: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”, and had in attendance top clergymen including Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, Rev. Paul Frimpong Manso, Apostle Prof. Kwadwo and Opoku Onyinah.
In a sermon, with reading from Lamentation 3:22-23, Apostle Prof. Onyinah urged Christians and members of the First Sky Group to remain faithful stewards.
The Executive Chairman of the First Sky Group, Eric Seddy Kutortse, in an address, recounted how merciful and kind the Lord had been to the group in 2019. He said the group enjoyed the Lord’s protection and grace in 2019, for which reason He deserved to be praised.
About First Sky Group
The First Sky Group started its operations with a workforce of five personnel and has since increased its staff strength to over 400 permanent managerial, administrative and technical staff as well as 1,500 casual staff.
Its subsidiaries are First Sky Construction, First Sky Commodities, Volta Serene Hotel, Serene Insurance Limited, First Sky Bitumen Processing Limited and Frerol Rural Bank.
The group has over the years embarked on a number of corporate social responsibility initiatives among which are the payment of all hospital debts of patients at the Renal Dialysis Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in 2016 which amounted to GH¢620,000 and a donation of GH¢2 million as an endowment fund for the treatment of all patients on dialysis at the unit.
The group, in 2018, also donated an amount of GH¢1 million to the National Road Safety Authority in the fight against road accidents, and also donated 60 church buildings with a seating capacity of 450-650 to the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana.
BY Melvin Tarlue