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The administrator of the Universal Mission Clinic, Joshua Drah, the man in the middle of the abortion sex gate, after several denials during the joint Police Criminal investigations Department (CID) and Panthers Unit raid at his clinic, finally confessed to the offence.
When quizzed by the arrest party at his office, the ‘Dr.’ expressed surprise at the whole arrest. At some point he evaded questions and at other times, claimed that he did not remember events.
He further denied flatly at the CID headquarters all the allegations that were read out to him by the Police, thereby pushing the police to play the raw footage of him in the middle of the act. To say that he was shocked after watching the video is an understatement. He finally confessed….. Excerpts of the conversation are as follows:
When the video starts playing
CID: Is this your place?
Drah: Yes.
CID: Drah, is it you?
Drah: Hm?
CID: Is it you in the video?
Drah: Yes it’s me, it’s enough
Amongst other things established in the course of the raid, it became clear that he was not a doctor but rather a medical assistant with training from Togo.
Additionally, he admitted that he did not have the necessary license to operate the place, although he had been working at the Universal Mission Clinic for over a decade.
Journalist: Mr Drah, do you know what is going on here, do you have an idea of what is likely to happen?
Drah: No, I don’t have an idea. In fact it’s concerning the clinic I don’t know why they’ve arrested me
Journalist: Is your clinic illegal; are you operating illegally?
Drah: No, I registered but they didn’t give me the this thing yet …
Journalist: Are you operating with a license
Drah: I have license but they haven’t given me the thing yet, that is the go ahead from the Ministry of Health
Journalist: How many years have you done that?
Drah: 15 years, but we are establishing it small small because the place was listed.
After admitting that he had sex with the girls, the doctor beat another retreat on the issue of whether or not he used condoms in the middle of the abortion. A visibly confused Drah was left to manage wry smiles intermittently and at other times played to the tune of an absent minded person. Finally, he let the cat out of the bag- he did not know his HIV status!
CID: Do you wear a condom when doing this?
Drah? Yes
CID:
CID: How and when do you wear it, look; I am asking do you wear condoms?
Drah: No
CID: Drah, do you know your HIV status
Drah: No
CID: Does your wife know this is what you are doing with strangers?
Drah: No
Other interesting portions of the CID’s interrogation of Drah are produced below:
CID: We have brought you here because you are operating an illegal abortion clinic and when doing the abortion, you have been having sex with them. Is it true?
Drah: I cannot remember
CID: I am asking again, before you do the abortion operation you have sex with the victims, is it true or not true.
Drah: I cannot remember anything
CID: But have you done that before; what do you mean by you cannot remember; So you want proof?
Drah: [sits smiling] yes
CID: Should we show it to you, I am asking you ‘doc’?
Drah: Yes, bring it if I can see
CID: Do you have a license?
Drah: Not yet!
CID: So who is your supervising doctor?
Drah: Dr. Solomon from Accra
CID: Which hospital; what is his number?
Drah: I have forgotten it
CID: How long have you been operating it?
Drah: I can say for 10 years
CID: What is the name of your clinic?
Drah: Universal mission Clinic
CID: Are you a medical doctor?
Drah: No, medical assistant.
CID: How did you obtain your certificate as medical assistant?
Drah: Yes, I’ve been to medical this thing … all my training I did it in Togo.
CID: We will prove to you that you are lying to us.
ABORTION AND THE LAW
Till 1985, abortion was governed by the Criminal Code of 1960, Act 29 sections 58, 59 and 67, which made abortion illegal and states amongst others that, the doctor and patient were all liable under that law to some ten 10 years sentence imprisonment if found guilty. The only basis on which it was allowed was if it was based on good faith and without negligence.
The new law of 1985 (Law No. 102 of 22 February) generally, states that any one administering any poison or other obnoxious substance to a woman or using any instruments or other means with the intent to cause an abortion is guilty of an offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
All of this is regardless of whether the woman is pregnant or has given her consent. Any person inducing a woman to cause or consent to an abortion, assisting a woman to cause an abortion or attempting to cause an abortion may also be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years.
A person who supplies or procures any poison, drug or instrument or any other thing knowing that it will be used to perform an abortion is also subject to the same punishment.
ABORTION STATISTICS
The official abortion statistics in the country are worrying. According to a Ghana Health Service (GHS) report, as many as Sixteen thousand one hundred and eighty-two girls (16,182) and young women underwent an abortion in 2011 as against ten thousand, seven hundred and eighty five (10785) in 2010 and eight thousand, seven hundred and seventeen (8,717) in 2009.
According to the Adolescent Health and Development Programme 2011 Report from the Ministry of Health, the trajectory of figures indicates clearly that the spate of abortion amongst young adolescents and women was on the rise.
Year in and out, from 2009 till last year (2011), the records point to the fact that there could be many such quack people parading as medical officers, engaging in the illegality called abortion:
16, 182 abortions in 2011
10, 785 abortions in 2010
8,717 abortions in 2009
Figures from the Adolescent Health and Development Programme Report published last year, (2011) the statistics for young teenagers (between ages 10 – 14) was frightening to say the least. . Two hundred and sixteen (216) cases of abortion involving girls between ten (10) and fourteen (14 years) were recorded in 2009; three hundred and thirty one ( 331) cases in 2010 and five hundred and eighty two ( 582) in 2011.
Indeed, the several hours of footage that we have of this ‘doctor’ shows small girls and young ladies who are the major patrons of the now infamous Universal mission Clinic.
LOCAL CONCOCTIONS AND CYTOTEC DRUG
In order to do an exhaustive job of the subject matter we also explored the many other lethal and crude methods that many young people have resorted to in a bid to dodge motherhood and the unpleasant troubles and traumas that are associated with a young, pregnant and unmarried girl in our Ghanaian society.
We found traders in traditional herbs who were selling several concoctions {pill and syrup] on the open market, drugs that they assured us would abort a fetus within 24 hours. Pregnant ladies were to drink some and insert others.
We also encountered sellers who offered us advice on concoctions like a mixture of leaves of a bush plant with kawa – a local stone – grounded and put into the uterus. In case that is too farfetched, we were also advised that melted sugar with Guinness was another option.
This was also followed by an advice of ten (10) paracetamol tablets ground up with local gin or the well known broken bottles ground up with seawater and ‘Blue’, a washing detergent, all to be soaked in a cotton cloth and inserted into the womanhood.
Cytotec, also known in medical parlance as misoprostol was another key player in our abortion operation. Here was a drug that all be it licensed to treat gastric ulcers was being abused by girls and young women for abortion and or to avoid abortion related complications.
We found out that, these people had the tacit complicity of some pharmacists, doctors and largely chemical sellers. The drug [cytotec] is a class A drug (one that cannot be purchased without prescription of a qualified doctor). Some doctors were however willing to give fake permits and so were some pharmacists and chemical sellers who were ready to sell it without a prescription to whoever dished out the amount quoted. |
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