Ghanaian writer and entrepreneur Kay Cudjoe has condemned the recent violent incident at Ridge Hospital, calling it “a theatre of shame” that highlights systemic issues in public healthcare.
In a detailed social media post, Cudjoe recounted how Ralph St. Williams stormed the emergency ward, shouting, filming, and flanked by men “who had no business in a space of pain.” A young nurse was left injured and traumatized, while patients watched helplessly.
“This is not how a hospital should feel,” Cudjoe wrote, noting that the real scandal goes beyond one individual. “The scandal is the health system that allows a nurse to be tyrant in public and angel in private… a nation that mourns only when the cameras are on.”
She criticized the response of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), saying their public defense of the incident and threats to abandon posts missed the point.
“A responsible union should not hold patients hostage,” Cudjoe emphasized.
Cudjoe also questioned Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh’s optics after he was seen shaking hands with Ralph, stressing that leadership is not just action but the signals it sends.
While acknowledging Parliament’s condemnation of the assault and the Police’s intervention, she warned that systemic failures persist across public hospitals in Koforidua, Tamale, Sunyani, and beyond.
“The real fight is not in walking away from wards, but in ensuring that the rule of law is respected and that hospitals deliver the dignity and care Ghanaians deserve,” Cudjoe wrote.
She concluded with a powerful reminder: “Until governance changes… every Ghanaian who walks into a public hospital will carry the same fear: will I be saved or scolded before I take my last breath?”
