Otumfuo launches $10M fund raising Friday to renovate KATH
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will kick-start his fund-raising initiative for a comprehensive renovation of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) on Friday, November 10, 2023 in Kumasi.
His Majesty has declared his readiness to raise $10m towards the renovation of the old blocks of the hospital, which are in a state of disrepair .
Legacy project
The renovation is a legacy project for his silver jubilee coronation next year. Consequently, at the hospital premises on Friday, the King is scheduled to launch the fund-raising activities at 11 a.m.
Adverse impact
Otumfuo is disturbed that the ageing blocks which house the main wards of the hospital have never been renovated since their construction in 1955. The situation has had adverse impact on the quality of in-patient care, hence his decision to lead the drive for their refurbishment.
Historical Background
KATH is a 1000-bed capacity tertiary hospital. In the 1940s, there was a hospital located on the hill over-looking the Bantama township designated African and European Hospitals.
As their names implied, the African side treated Africans while the European side treated Europeans. However, on some rare occasions, high-ranking African government officials were given treatment in the European section.
By 1952, the need to construct a new hospital to cater for the fast increasing population in Kumasi and therefore Ashanti Region arose.
The European Hospital was therefore transferred to the Kwadaso Military Quarters to make way for the new project to begin.
In 1955 the new hospital complex was completed and named the Kumasi Central Hospital. The name was later changed to the Komfo Anokye Hospital in honour and memory of the powerful and legendary traditional priest, Komfo Anokye.
The hospital became a Teaching hospital in 1975 for the training of medical students in collaboration with the School of Medical Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.
