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Prof Afua Adwo Jectey Hesse …First Ghanaian trained female Paediatric Surgoen opens up on impactful career
Prof Afua Adwo Jectey Hesse, delivering an address
Working as a Paediatric Surgeon was God’s plan for my life because l was told by my parents that at the age of four, l had indicated l would become a paediatric surgeon. It is so surprising that l knew nothing about it so l inferred that it was God who had directed my thoughts.”
These are the words of a genius and no wonder Prof Afua Adwo Jeckey Hesse became the first in all her fields of endeavour.
She is the first Ghanaian trained female Paediatric Surgeon, the first female to head the Department of Surgery at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and the first female to head the Paediatric Surgery Department at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
She is also the first female to work as the Director of Medical Affairs, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, and the first female to Act as the Chief Executive Officer at the hospital.
She is presently the President of Accra College of Medicine (ACM).
EDUCATION
Prof Afua Adwo Ajectey- Hesse who turns 70 this year was born in Kumasi to Prof Kwadwo Asare Jectey Nyarko and Mrs Agnes Jectey Nyarko of blessed memory.
Her father was a lecturer in Geography at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi while her mother taught at the Basic School in the same university.
When her father had the opportunity to study for his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in France, he took the family along because he wanted his children to get the necessary exposure to the outside world.
After the completion of the course, the family returned to Ghana. She enrolled at the Wesley Girls’ High School and sat for the Ordinary Level and later completed the Advanced Level certificate in 1969.
She entered the University of Ghana Medical School and graduated in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) in 1976. She did her house job at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
While working as a Demonstrator in Anatomy at the Anatomy Department, University of Ghana Medical School, she wrote the primary examination and later gained admission to do her Postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Surgeons in the United Kingdom.
She later read Management Studies at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the School of Management in London.
WORK ABROAD
She got married to Prof Adukwei I.F. Hesse in 1978 and when her husband went to Birmingham in the United Kingdom to study for his postgraduate programme in Physiology, she joined him with their two sons.
While lecturing in Birmingham as a Senior House Officer, within three years, she had sat for the Fellowship Examination at the Royal College of Surgeons in Birmingham.
Prof Jectey Hesse worked as a Clinical Fellow in Paediatric Surgeon. She again worked as Clinical Fellow in Clinical Surgery and Paediatric Surgery in the Bristol Royal Hospital.
In 1998, she and the husband returned to Ghana with their four children and applied to the University of Ghana to lecture. Her husband was employed in the Department of Medicine ( Internal Medicine), and taught Physiology also, while she worked in the Paediatric Surgery Department at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Coincidentally, the Head of Paediatric Surgery Department who was her tutor, left unceremoniously and the mantle fell on her to head the department.
EXPERIENCE
She said it was an arduous task working continuously as a paediatric surgeon with no time to rest. Later, she had to recruit more doctors and nurses to assist her in the department and ensured that the staff were exposed to some of the best practices outside the country.
She said she had never wavered going through all the disciplines in medicine.
“In paediatric surgery, a child comes to the hospital with a problem and when you operate on the child or you correct the problem, the next day the child is ready to go and play football. In this situation, the anxious parents would like to find out whether the child should be allowed to play or not,” she said.
Prof Jectey Hesse explained that there was no regret working as a Paediatric Surgeon because she attached professionalism to her work and the relief given to parents and their sick children had provided her a lot of satisfaction. Additionally, working with her hands to see a little child get better was a wonderful activity which she took delight in.
Though on retirement, she is a part-time lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School and still has so much to pass on to the younger generation as long as God gives her the strength to do what she loved doing best.
CHALLENGES
She explained that the Paediatric Surgery Department took care of newborn babies up to 13 years.
She said the challenges in the department included the clinical condition the patient was identified with, you could diagnose the condition and prescribe medication for the patient, but the parents could not purchase the medicine, and having completed a nice job, the post-operative management of the case could be problematic because the parents could not provide the needed items.
Prof Jectey Hesse intimated that there were occasions she had to use her money in support of needy children on admission in the hospital, and this situation had occasioned the establishment of a Special Fund in the department in support of needy children.
ACCRA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
When asked what motivated the family to establish the Accra College of Medicine, she said one of her sons had expressed concern that there were many students who had applied to the medical schools in Ghana with good grades but could not gain admission to the public medical schools because of the cut-off point, so he asked why couldn’t the family establish a school to cater for some of these students.
She said the family decided to manage the academic part of the university while other stakeholders provide the financial part. That was the vision to get stakeholders who would provide the needed funds for this laudable project, hence the coming into being of the Accra College of Medicine.
“By the grace of God, the school has graduated 28 medical doctors from three batches. The main thing is about their work ethics and high character,” she said.
GRATITUDE
According to her, some of her former students were grateful for the opportunity granted them to study medicine to become doctors. They said this would not have been possible without the establishment of ACM.
Prof Jectey Hesse is a Christian whose hobbies include, reading, cooking, baking, playing the piano at her leisure and she loves singing.
She loves Ghanaian foods and cooks perfectly well without the use of additives.
She urged Ghanaians to desist from telling lies and “do what they would like to do if nobody was watching them.”
By Raymond Kyekye
Massive celebrations were recorded countrywide as the Black Stars opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Panama in Toronto on Wednesday.
Midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi scored the only goal of the match late in the game as he shot in a decent cross from substitute Brandon Asante.
The win gave Ghana a positive start in the competition, placing them in second position behind England, also with three points but with a superior goal aggregate.
After the final whistle, the streets and other viewing centres were turned into partying grounds as fans, mostly clad in the team’s paraphernalia, danced to several World Cup-themed music.
Others blew the vuvuzelas in joyous mood with others putting up a spirited ‘jama’ session.
Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for the Adentan Constituency, Akosua Manu, has urged party members to move away from what she describes as an “entitlement mentality” and focus on unity, sacrifice and hard work as the party prepares for the 2028 general election.
In a statement titled “Is Loyalty a Queue?”, and posted on facebook, Ms. Manu argued that loyalty to the NPP should not be judged by how long a person has been in the party but by their contributions and commitment to its growth.
According to her, the NPP’s history shows that many of its leaders faced significant opposition from within the party before eventually leading it to electoral success.
She cited former President John Agyekum Kufuor as an example, saying he had to overcome resistance from influential figures within the party before winning power for the NPP in 2000.
Ms. Manu noted that after the party lost power in 2008, former President Kufuor faced criticism and accusations from some party members.
However, she said supporters eventually put their differences aside and worked together to rebuild the party.
She pointed to the experience of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who, according to her, faced opposition from some factions within the NPP despite his long service to the party.
“His trials were ten times what Kufuor endured,” she stated, adding that Akufo-Addo eventually overcame the challenges and became President of Ghana.
Turning to the NPP’s current flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Ms. Manu said he also faced resistance from different groups within the party while seeking leadership.
She praised Dr. Bawumia for contributing to policy-based political discussions in Ghana and for remaining composed following the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 elections.
According to her, party members must now rally behind him in the same way they supported former Presidents Kufuor and Akufo-Addo.
Ms. Manu, however, warned that internal divisions and a sense of entitlement remain major threats to the party’s future.
She argued that some party members place too much emphasis on how long individuals have belonged to the NPP rather than on their contributions and capabilities.
“This entitlement does not question impact. It does not ask what you sacrificed or what you built. It asks only how long have you been here,” she said.
The former parliamentary candidate cautioned that such attitudes could discourage committed members and prevent the party from selecting the best people for leadership positions.
She further called on the party’s incoming national executives to strengthen the NPP’s core values of sacrifice, honesty, integrity and dedication to national development.
Ms. Manu addressed the concerns of young party supporters, many of whom she said became discouraged following the NPP’s electoral defeat in 2024.
According to her, many young people remain eager to see the party return to power but are unwilling to support internal conflicts driven by personal ambitions.
She urged party elders to place the interests of the NPP above their individual goals and to demonstrate leadership that attracts rather than alienates members.
“The NPP is bigger than any one of us. It always has been. Our collective responsibility is to act like it,” she stated.
By: Jacob Aggrey
