Court of Appeal gives husband green light to sue Ghana Health Service, Mponua District Hospital directly for negligence
A three-member panel overturned a High Court ruling that removed the two health institutions from the case on the basis that the law establishing them did not expressly state that they could sue or be sued in their own names.
The Court of Appeal has cleared the way for a husband to pursue a medical negligence action directly against the Ghana Health Service and the Atwima Mponua District Hospital over the death of his wife following childbirth.
A three-member panel overturned a High Court ruling that removed the two health institutions from the case on the basis that the law establishing them did not expressly state that they could sue or be sued in their own names.
The court held that both institutions possess the legal capacity to be sued despite the absence of an express provision to that effect in the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 (Act 525).
The appeal was filed by Emmanuel Frimpong Manso, whose wife, Akosua Asantewaa, died shortly after delivering at the Atwima Mponua District Hospital. Until her death, she was a Senior Nursing Officer at the same hospital.
Manso alleges that the hospital failed to conduct the necessary laboratory investigations after his wife developed high blood pressure, headaches and traces of protein in her urine during the 38th week of pregnancy.
He further claims that medical personnel proceeded with an induced vaginal delivery despite clinical findings suggesting that it was a high-risk option.
According to his case, Asantewaa suffered seizures after delivery and later developed breathing difficulties. Manso alleges that a delay in securing an anaesthetist to intubate her caused her to aspirate fluids into her lungs. Subsequent attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.
He consequently sued the hospital, the Ghana Health Service and the Attorney-General, seeking general damages for the loss of his wife, the distress caused by her death and the trauma suffered by him and their surviving infant.
The High Court in Kumasi, however, struck out the hospital and the Ghana Health Service on July 10, 2025, after concluding that Act 525 did not expressly give them the legal capacity to sue or be sued. It directed Manso to institute a fresh action against the respective heads of the two institutions.
Delivering judgment on July 23, 2026, the Court of Appeal rejected that position and held that Act 525 must be interpreted as a whole and alongside the relevant provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
The panel found that the Ghana Health Service operates as a public corporation with statutory powers, assets, rights, obligations and responsibilities. It reasoned that institutions empowered to perform functions capable of causing injury must also be answerable before the courts.
The judges also questioned the High Court’s direction that the respective heads of the two institutions should be sued, noting that those individuals were not corporate bodies with perpetual succession.
They added that even if the institutions had been improperly named, the High Court could have ordered a substitution of parties or permitted the necessary amendments rather than directing Manso to begin a fresh action.
“The courts exist to do substantial justice,” the panel stated, stressing that legal proceedings should not be defeated by technical objections where the substantive dispute can be determined on its merits.
The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, restored the Ghana Health Service and the Atwima Mponua District Hospital as defendants and set aside the High Court’s ruling.
The case has been sent back to the High Court for continuation before a different judge. The allegations of negligence remain unproven and will be determined during the substantive trial.
The panel comprised Justices Eric Baah, John Bosco Nabarese and Alibaba Abature.
