In the last couple of days, our media landscape in Ghana has been inundated with reports about a certain lady who had for many years paraded herself as a medical officer. The said lady had projected herself as having studied at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the United States, and purportedly practised as a medical officer in internal medicine.

In that capacity, she had practised and worked as a global health crusader, high-level conference speaker on medical issues, as well as being a presenter on a major television channel in Accra, offering health education on key issues.

It is on record that a petition was filed at the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) in March 2025 requesting it to confirm or deny the professional status of the supposed medical officer. The Council subsequently issued a statement categorically indicating that she was not qualified to practice medical science in Ghana.

That statement, signed by Dr. Alex Peasah-Koduah, indicated among others that, “the Medical and Dental Council (MDC) has conducted preliminary investigations into the matter. Our records indicate that Dr Anne Daly is not registered with the Council and, therefore, does not hold a valid license to practice medicine or dentistry in Ghana, as stipulated in Sections 29(1), 30, and 48(b) and (d) of the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857)."

Further checks with the American Board of Family Medicine also revealed that, contrary to her claim, Anne Sansa Daly is not a diplomate of the Board and can therefore not hold herself out as such. The US Board’s response stated, “The information provided does not match our records. We are unable to identify a physician matching the information you have provided… We have reviewed the certificate provided. There are notable discrepancies between the certificate provided in comparison to certificates issued by ABFM. The certificate provided was not issued by ABFM.”

For whatever it is worth, it does not appear that anything much did take place thereafter until these last couple of days when the said lady was nominated as a member of the Governing Board of a health authority. Public agitation was further ignited against her, leading to the government revoking the nomination with a replacement candidate.

As I reflected on the entire episode regarding this lady, I kept wondering how the entire country could have allowed itself to be ‘publicly swindled’ by this lady for many months.

Interestingly, in spite of the preponderance of evidence, a rebuttal was issued in May 2025 by the counsel of the supposed medical officer. He literally rubbished the report and indicated that the notice from the MDC was “subterfuge to perpetuate mischief, odium and ridicule” and that “while Dr. Daly is not registered with the Medical and Dental Council (MDC), she is fully certified to practise internal medicine in the United States”.

He further added, “My client is excessively qualified to hold herself as a Medical Doctor anywhere in the world and does not need certification from the Ghana Medical and Dental Council to do so. Your publication, which seeks to create the impression that once someone is not on the Roll of the Medical and Dental Council, they are therefore not a doctor, is, with all due respect, a proposition of fuliginous obscurity… its foundations lie on mechanical reasoning devoid of logic.” 

It is this line of reasoning by the learned counsel to the supposed medical officer that I am deeply troubled by.

As one who himself belongs to the legal profession, whose Ghana Legal Council has very strict standards for entering qualified practitioners on the roll of lawyers in Ghana. It also has very strict ethical standards that all practising lawyers are expected to abide by. How this counsel now expects that a person who has supposedly received medical training abroad could simply walk into Ghana and begin practising her trade is as baffling and troubling as that of the lady in question. 

It must be stated in no uncertain terms that our country, in much the same way as all civilised ones, regulates the practice of all known professional practices. Indeed, the woes of the regulatory industry in Ghana are not limited to medical science alone. The list has included medicine, law, engineering, pharmacy, teaching, architecture, nursing, accounting, etc.

To enable the regulation of these to be effectively undertaken, the State has enacted various legislations with established councils to oversee and undertake the practice of regulation. These Councils have all been clothed with Secretariats, Governing Boards and staff to facilitate the registration of and practice of the respective professions, educational training for those professions, trade practices, etc.

It is therefore strange to find a lawyer whose job it is to uphold the law, opening rubbishing the same.

It may be recalled that sometime in May 2014, a certain Fauster Atta Mensah managed to obtain inserted access to places of high corridors across the country, including the nation’s broadcasting house. He paraded himself as a NASA Scientist and Nobel Prize laureate and took all of us on a wild goose chase. Other instances have popped up at various times.

All of these have tended to create the unfortunate situation as though our regulatory councils are ineffective. The sad reality, however, is that quite a number of not most of these Councils tend to be hindered in their operations. These have included a lack of the required staff, deliberate sabotage by practitioners who resist change, inadequate funding and support from collaborative state agencies, among others.

The purpose of setting up these regulatory councils is generally to protect and safeguard the health, safety, property, and overall interests of the general public. In most cases, this involves establishing regulations, enforcement of regulations, and publicising licensing requirements, sensitising the public on quality standards, as well as ensuring the safeguarding of rules across the specific industry. Regulation defines standards for performance and assigns consequences for that performance. It is important to indicate that the common purpose of all regulations is performance. Effective regulation, therefore, aims to align private behaviour of the citizenry with the public interest.

Going into the future, it is therefore imperative for all stakeholders in our country to join forces and help our professional regulatory councils to pick up the axe and ensure that our country is rid of persons who parade as professional practitioners but who do not possess the wherewithal to do the same within the jurisdiction.

It is only when we have stricter regulatory frameworks guiding our professional training, practice, service delivery, etc, that the average citizen can obtain the quality service required from our practitioners, firms and educational units. Again, by adhering to the legislations and standards set by regulatory councils, firms are able to safeguard their operations, protect stakeholder interests, and foster a culture of ethical conduct. Ultimately, lives are saved, citizens are protected, and the environment is safeguarded. It is to be noted that the absence of a well-regulated professional space incurs enormous costs (actual and lives).

Until we get to that point, the strings of the aprons of our professional practice space may remain loosely tied together and largely ineffective in ensuring compliance with the legislation on our books.

The onus is on all of us Ghanaians to help make this happen. God bless us all!