The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has begun an investigation into findings revealed in a documentary film released on May 10, 2026, titled “Theft in the Theatre”.
Francis Bugase, an accountant featured in the documentary, will appear as a witness today, June 2, before a committee set up by Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, to investigate the findings.
An invitation letter the committee wrote to him on Sunday, 31 May 2026, says the meeting will take place at the Dr John Koku Awoonor-Williams In-Service Training and Conference Centre in the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga.
The accountant was one of several residents who reported an extortion spree in the surgical theatre of Upper East Regional Hospital to Media Without Borders, prompting an investigation by the author of this report (Edward Adeti).
The 36-minute documentary exposes how patients are compelled to pay twice for surgical services covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
It reveals how ghost receipts are issued to insured patients at the theatre to hide the act. It also features a shop owner who is angry and says he is ready to take action because the theatre is issuing copies of his receipt to patients without his consent.
“If available, please, bring along any receipts, payment records, text messages, or other documents that may assist the committee in its investigation,” the committee told Bugase in the letter.
The letter, signed by the chairman of the committee, Dr Abdul-Razak Dokurugu, further assures the accountant that the information he provides to the committee would be “treated with due confidentiality and used solely for the purposes of the investigation.”
The number of witnesses the committee plans to invite has not been made public, but the number of residents who allege they were extorted at the hospital is large.
After the documentary was released, some said their relatives died because they could not afford the unapproved payments demanded from them at the hospital.
What the law says
Collecting payments from insured patients with active NHIS cards, known as co-payment, is illegal.
Section 35(1) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act, 2012 (Act 852) requires all certified healthcare providers to comply with the approved lists and tariffs of medicines and services.
In August 2025, NHIA Chief Executive, Dr. Victor Asare Bampoe, warned that non-compliant facilities would face sanctions, refunds, and possible prosecution.
“We are no longer tolerating illegal charges or fraudulent claims. If you’re a credentialled facility and you’re submitting false claims or charging NHIS members for services already covered, your days are numbered,” he told stakeholders during a tour of the country last year.
The GHS issued a press release on May 11, stating that it considered the findings reported in the documentary “serious and contrary to its disciplinary rules and ethics”.
“We welcome such information, and per the Patient’s Charter, which mandates transparency and accountability, we will investigate any specific evidence of extortion and apply the Ghana Health Service Code of Conduct and professional ethics,” a portion of the press statement reads.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana/West Africa
