LETTER TO GOD

Save the "Saviour"

Dr. David Abdulai, aka the "Mad Doctor" attending to one of his patients

One of those awkward moments when the mind gets cluttered with too many questions, when the heart feels burdened, troubled and gripped in a deep and stunning silence, leaving you with questions that ideally should be directed to God but then again you are left wondering if asking is a sign of the lack of faith.

Asking these questions and perhaps getting the desired responses are sure to bring me some form of relief from the mental turmoil but doing so in my present state of confusion comes with the risk of questioning the all-knowing God. And who am I to do so?

When I was with Zain (Airtel)

When I was with Zain/Airtel Ghana, I found myself working actively on the Zain/Airtel Touching Lives TV reality show. Among others, I was to write compelling weekly updates on the pair of stories that were screened weekly, making sure they teased viewers enough to stay glued to their TV sets in readiness for the episode that was billed to roll. That was how I got to know and meet Dr. David Abdulai, the “Mad Doctor”, the man I prefer to call the “Human Saviour”, who stunned the whole of Ghana with his splendid act of kindness and fellow-feeling. 

The tale of a survivor:

Dr. Abdulai, the angel of a man

As a son of a leper (father) and a semi-beggar (mother), young Abdulai “germinated” from underneath rocks/boulders and grew up in a way that clearly defied science and logic.

He was hit by the sad realities of living in the dusty streets of the savanna and the onslaught of poverty related diseases/conditions that eventually wiped off all 10 of his siblings from the surface of the earth, yes, all ten but him. It must have taken a mix and, if you like, a good dose of his “stubborn” survival instincts and providence to endure these and the many nights without food.

From that dream-killer environment up north, it would sound mysterious that what looked like a dormant seed and a sleeping grain rose to life- first the green, then the trunk and later the beautiful flower on whose nectar the many “fatherless birds” feed.

Dr. Abdulai, in white shirt standing in the middle

Abdulai grew to become a medical doctor who was soon to turn literally into the air many breathed and the guy rope onto which many in sinking sand have clung.

The angel of a man called Dr. Abdulai

A leper under the care of Dr. Abdulai

Inspired by his background and humbling personal experiences, Abdulai, (now a medical doctor of no mean status), found his targets in the destitute – lepers, mentally challenged, and indeed the least of persons “nobody” really wanted or cared about.

 He felt those were the people most deserving of his attention as a medic. He followed this conviction, resigned his promising job in the public sector, cut off all sources of funding and threw himself back into the savanna to serve the lowly-placed in our society.

The "Human Saviour" attending  to one of his VIPs

If it hasn’t crossed your mind how the mentally challenged feed/survive and what happens to them when they fall sick, these have been Dr. Abdulai’s pre-occupation since the early 90s. 

Establishment of the Shekina Clinics: Shortly after resigning his job, he set up what became known as Shekina Clinic(s)- two separate health facilities- from where he treated people (mainly the poor) of all sort of conditions FOR FREE, including expensive surgeries with each of the clinics recording an average of 60 patients daily.

In these same facilities, he housed the people who have nowhere to turn to, many of whom would long have been dead or wandering on the streets in hunger. These, including the aged, visually impaired, mentally retarded, physically challenged, and in fact “social outcasts” of varied shades are the same people he describes  and treats as his VIPs.

Food programme: As if the offer of free medical care to the people was not enough display of empathy, he initiated a feeding programme for all under his care. For 24 good years (since 1992), he cooked, went in search of the “mentally deranged’ on the streets of Tamale and served them a meal a day without failure. Even today, his team of volunteers should be in their van roaming the street in search of the hungry to feed.

A leader of Dr. Abdulai's team serving a mentally deranged person on the street of Tamale

Xmas Party: While he was growing up, a bowl of “Xmas rice” coming with a morsel of meat (to grease his harmattan cracked lips) was a huge luxury for little Abdulai. That must have influenced his decision to institute an annual Xmas feast for persons who lacked the capacity to “pamper” themselves in line with the season’s demand.

An average of 3,000 people from deprived background are feted yearly in his Xmas party programme that has been running for over 25 years.

Faith under siege:

This man, the same Doctor with that “biiiiig” heart is presently battling what has alledgedly been diagnosed as thyroid cancer.I had a rude shock bumping into news stories and social media posts on his plight.

“Why ! How !!” were the words that gushed out of my mind and mouth. Is it the “Good Samaritan? The ‘savior’ in human form? My role model? The man around whom thousands of lives revolve? I queried myself in a near state of trance. Is God to blame? Are the gods to blame?

That the world is unfair can’t be more evident, I concluded.  But could it be that God is testing HIS and OUR fate? Fate under siege, indeed.

Our plea:

Since God can’t be questioned, we can only raise our voice in unison and ask for his intervention. His kind of miracle is what we beseech at this point as a nation. Ghana badly needs the “Mad Doctor” back on his feet, God.

MICHAEL ANUMU IN A ANOTHER RECRUITMENT SCAM

…nearly 600 more defrauded nationwide of GHC 167,960.00

Michael Hope Amunu, the suspect

Nearly six hundred (600) more job seekers largely made up of youth from various parts of the country have allegedly fallen for the antics of Michael Hope Anumu, the 32-year-old man who is currently standing trial at the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court for masterminding a recruitment scam that hit the Krobo area recently.

In this latest episode of what seems to be his stock in trade, Michael is said to have defrauded five hundred and eighty eight (588) people from different parts of the country to the tune of One Hundred and Sixty Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty Cedis (GHC 167, 960.00). 

The case which was reported at the Koforidua Central Police Station in September 2014 is currently pending before the Koforidua Circuit Court B.

Background:

In September 2014, three of the victims, Messer Victor Tandor, a teacher aged 40; John Komong also a 46 year old teacher and Samuel Oppong, a 40 year old engineer lodged a complaint with the Koforidua Central Police about how they were individually defrauded and lured by the accused, Amunu, into recruiting friends and other professionals from across the regions for employment in a pharmaceutical company that was about to be established in the country.

According to Tandor and Komong, the accused (Amunu) joined them on the staff at the Asesewa Community DA Basic School during the 2011/2012 academic year and taught in class 3 until he vacated post in 2014.

During the said period, Amunu told the two about his sojourn in South Africa and his close ties with one Dr. Knelah Zies, a South African Medical Practitioner and investor, who was set to set up a pharmaceutical company here in Ghana.  

According to the victims, the accused told them about the visit of a 5-member South African delegation which was in town working together with the Ministry of Information and also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the preliminary works in the lead up to the establishment of the company.

They said Amunu told them the delegation had earlier met with the President, the then Chief of Staff and officials from the Bank of Ghana (BOG) who arranged a successful transfer of the funds needed for the project.

Recruitment and training:

They indicated that Amunu (who by that time had become a good friend of theirs on the same staff) played on their trust and got them to recruit some of their friends from diverse professional backgrounds for a three-month training and subsequent employment.

The recruitment started locally in and around the Krobo area (mainly at Asesewa) in 2013 but took a wider dimension with time, with the team moving to other regions prospecting for persons with the desired qualification as specified by the accused.

This culminated in the recruitment of 588 professionals from varying background including accountants, pharmacists, caterers, pastors, nurses, engineers and various artisans including welders, vulcanizers, masons, electricians and factory hands etc.

Search for lands for the project:

Together with Amunu, they also went prospecting for suitable sites for the establishment of the company, the headquarters of which was to be located at Nsawam, with branches planned for Tamale, Kumasi, Techiman, and Koforidua.

According to them, the team eventually located parcels of lands in some of these areas and covering documents were prepared to that effect. That, according to the complainants, was how Samuel Oppong, (the third of the complainants), came into the picture, bringing on board his expertise as an engineer, then working with the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly. 

By that time, nearly all the 588 victims had paid various sum of money between GHC 400.00 and GHC 1, 200.00 to facilitate the acquisition of diplomatic passports and other traveling document for those billed for the training.

The payment, among others, was also to cover what Amunu described as citizenship fee, orientation fee, cost of Ebola medical screening as well as the opening of accounts and the creation of credit cards for all the travelers.

Suspicion  

In mid 2014, the three who ignorantly aided the accused started suspecting the latter because he together with the leader of the “ghost” South African delegation kept postponing the departure dates of the recruits.

They indicated that in some instance, some of the victims were made to travel from their respective regions to Accra on the directives of Amunu for preparations prior to their departure only to be given excuses on their arrival.

Suspicion heightened when in September Amunu failed to produce any document to confirm the transfer of fund to the Bank of Ghana for the commencement of the project as he had earlier indicated.

As of that time, Komong had paid to the suspect a total of GHC 107, 730.00, the sum of contributions from over 300 of the people he recruited and a personal loan of GHC 3, 100.00 which he took from the Bayport Financial Service.

Tandor, on the other hand, paid a total of GHC 28, 950.00 while Oppong parted with GHC 31, 280.00 including their personal contributions and those of the people they have recruited.

Report and arrest:

The three, Tandor, Komong and Oppong officially lodged a complaint with the Koforidua Central Police and Amunu was immediately arrested at Somanya. He was subsequently arraigned and remanded in Prison custody for three months after which he was granted bail.

Some vehicles belonging to the suspect have since been confiscated and are said to be in the custody of the police. 

They indicated however that though the court sat severally, Amunu hardly made appearance in court because his counsel, one W. H. Augustt (Esq) told the court his client was terminally ill.

Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that a bench warrant had been issued for Amunu’s arrest.

Though the complainants had petitioned the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (in a letter dated December 2, 2014), they were yet to receive any official response. The case returns to court on.

Interview with Koforidua Police:

In an interview with the Police, Superintendent Kofi Blagodzi, the Prosecutor, confirmed the issuance of a bench warrant for the arrest of the suspect, adding that the action was necessitated by the evasive tactics by the latter.

“His counsel was given several chances to produce him but he failed to do so with the excuse that his client was incapacitated”.

Commenting on the seizure of Amunu’s vehicle by the police, the prosecutor noted that the courts ordered its release to the suspect who wanted the vehicle sold to enable him pay back the victims.

He however could not confirm if Amunu had come for the vehicle in question which has been with the police all this while.

Flashback:

It would be recalled that the Daily Graphic in its Monday August 1, 2016 edition reported a similar recruitment scam in the Krobo area involving the accused, Amunu, who posed as a medical doctor (aka Dr. Dickson) of the VRA hospital in Akosombo to defraud 58 youth of the area of GHC 60,000.00 under the pretext of enlisting them into the various security services. The services included the Ghana Police Service (GPS), Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).

He was subsequently arrested and put before the Odumase-Krobo Circuit Court following complaints from one Patience Tetteh, one of the victims. He is slated to appear again in court on Wednesday September 14, 2016.