Officials from the Presbyterian Health Services in the Upper East Region held a meeting on Monday with the Regional Minister, Hon. Akamugri Donatus Atanga, to address security challenges delaying the reopening of Bawku Nursing Training College and to seek support for expanding a psychiatric hospital.
The delegation, led by Rev. James Kwame Awuni, emphasized the urgent need to resume operations at the nursing college, which has remained closed due to tensions in Bawku.
The facility, housed within the Mamprusi-dominated Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, has forced Kusasi students to attend lectures at a satellite campus in Bawku Senior High School.
Reverend Awuni noted that transporting food and supplies to the satellite site previously required military escorts and stressed that both ethnic factions oppose relocating the college to Bolgatanga.
Hon. Akamugri welcomed the consensus to keep the college in Bawku, calling it a potential “bargaining chip” to bolster peace efforts.
He pledged to present the matter to the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), which he chairs, and to involve the Bawku Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) to ensure a safe reopening.
“All necessary security arrangements will be prioritized,” he said, but urged caution until measures are finalized.
Separately, Dr. Dennis Daliri, a psychiatrist at the Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital in Bolgatanga, appealed for government assistance to expand the 10-bed facility, which opened in 2022.
The region’s sole psychiatric center, staffed by Daliri, struggles with overcrowding, often forcing patients to sleep on the floors.
Hon. Akamugri vowed to pursue partnerships to address the hospital’s limitations, stating, “This issue will receive maximum attention.”
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