President Mahama revokes NHIA appointment of Anne Sansa Daly amid storm over her medical credentials

President John Dramani Mahama has revoked the appointment of Anne Sansa Daly from the Board of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), replacing her with Prof. Dr (Med) Ernest Yorke. The decision, formalized in a letter dated May 23, 2025, and signed by Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, has sparked significant public scrutiny, both for its timing and Daly’s controversial credentials.

The letter, addressed to the Minister of Health, instructed that steps be taken for Prof. Yorke’s immediate swearing-in. It provided no reason for Daly’s removal.

Daly, a media personality and host of a health programme on GHOne TV, has recently faced growing speculation about her qualifications to serve on the NHIA Board. Critics on social media and in newsrooms have pointed to her status as a medical doctor, questioning whether she holds a valid licence to practise in Ghana.

The controversy intensified after a May 22, 2025 report by Modern Ghana alleged that Daly was unlicensed to practise medicine in both Ghana and the United States. Citing a letter from the Ghana Medical and Dental Council (GMDC) to Linmart Media Solutions CEO Nii Amarteifio, the publication argued that Daly was not on the GMDC’s official register.

Her legal team responded swiftly. In a strongly worded letter dated May 23, 2025, her lawyer, Peter Nartey Okudzeto, dismissed the article as malicious.

“My client is excessively qualified to hold herself as a Medical Doctor anywhere in the world and does not need certification from the Ghana Medical and Dental Council to do so. Your publication, which seeks to create the impression that once someone is not on the Roll of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council they are therefore not a doctor, is, with all due respect, a proposition of fuliginous obscurity… its foundations lie on mechanical reasoning devoid of logic,” he said in a rejoinder published by GHOne affiliate Starr FM.

Okudzeto also stressed that the GMDC letter made no accusation of fraud.

“The letter did not state anywhere that Dr Anne Sansa Daly is a fake Medical Doctor,” he noted. “Your publication seeks to create the impression and a firm conclusion that my client is a fake Medical Practitioner who does not hold any certificate that qualifies her to carry out medical practice in both Ghana and the United States of America.”

He warned Modern Ghana to retract the story within 48 hours and to publish the rejoinder with equal prominence, threatening legal action otherwise.

“I have been further advised by my client to inform you, which I hereby do, to retract your story which she views as a violent and unprovoked attack on her reputation within forty-eight (48) hours and to give her rejoinder the same prominence you gave your story, and to restrain other bloggers who take their story from your outfit and online feed. You, together with your privies, are also warned to cease and desist from publishing any further falsehood against my client, failing which she will resort to legal action without further recourse to your outfit,” he concluded.

Despite the revocation, an NHIA Facebook post dated May 27, four days after the president’s letter, still listed Daly among the 17-member board sworn in by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh. Daly and another board member, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings (MP), were notably absent from photos of the event, leaving it unclear whether Daly’s name had been formally struck off the list at that time. according to a Graphic Online report.

Prof. Yorke, Daly’s replacement, currently serves as Vice President of the Ghana Medical Association.

The NHIA Board, chaired by Mr Lawrence Nii Okantey Adjetey, is composed of representatives from various government agencies and professional sectors, including:

• Dr Koku Awoonor-Williams (Ministry of Health)
• Dr Alhassan Iddrisu (Ministry of Finance)
• Francisca Atuluk (Department of Social Welfare)
• Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea (Ghana Health Service)
• Dr Abiba Zakariah (National Insurance Commission)
• Dr Bernadette Naa Hoffman (SSNIT)
• Dr Sadat Bawa (Medical and Dental profession)
• Dr David Tetteh (Pharmacy)
• Mohammed Adamu Ramadan, MP (Accountancy or Finance)
• Dr Divine Ndonbi Banyubala (Legal expertise)
• Dr Ken Kwaku Tweneboah Koduah (Organised labour)
• Dr Victor Asare Bampoe (NHIA Chief Executive)
• Pious Kwame Nkuah, MP, and Daniella Mavis Abena Mathias (NHIA representatives)
• Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, MP

At the swearing-in, Health Minister Akandoh emphasized the critical role of the board in achieving equitable healthcare delivery. He urged the members to act with professionalism and align their work with major policy goals, particularly the Free Primary Healthcare programme.

He also cited reforms like the uncapping of the National Health Insurance Fund and improved resource disbursement timelines as part of broader efforts to strengthen NHIA efficiency.