Jacob Kenneth Kofi Kwakye-Maafo, also known as Nana Ohemeng Awere V, is a Ghanaian physician and a surgeon specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology,; and the chief executive of the West End Hospital, Kumasi. A past president of the Ghana Medical Association, he is an advocate of community health and has helped establish several health centres, rural hospitals and clinics in the Ashanti Region of Ghana notably the Ankaasi Faith Healing Methodist Hospital and the Lake Clinic at Amakom near Lake Bosomtwi. As a respected practitioner in Ghana, he was part of the committee set up by the government of Ghana in 2003 and tasked with the implementation of the in Ghana. Dr Kwakye-Maafo is the elder brother of Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the former finance minister during the President Kufuor administration and Dr Isaac Adjei-Maafo, who was a minister of Agriculture and later head of the Ghana Cocoa Board during the PNDC era.
Education and training
Jacob Kenneth Kwakye-Maafo had his primary education at Awisa Presbyterian Boarding School, Akim-Awisa, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, from 1944 to 1953. In January 1954 he entered the Abuakwa State College as a first-year student; where he is still on record as the only student to have collected the most prizes at one sitting. In December 1956 whilst in Form 3 and on the occasion of the Annual Speech & Prize Giving Day, under the Headship of the late , Jacob collected ten out of the twelve Prizes offered including the overall best student award in the Class. In January 1959, he entered sixth form at the Opoku Ware School in Kumasi, where he passed his Cambridge High School Certificate in 1960 with Distinction. In August 1961 he was awarded the Ghana Government Scholarship to study Medicine in Germany where he studied German at the University of Leipzig and University of Greifswald in 1962; he was admitted to the Freie University of Berlin, under the German/Ghanaian Scholarship Programme DAAD. He graduated as a Medical Practitioner after passing the State Examination with “ Cum Laude ” in September, 1968. In 1971 he was awarded the Doctor of Medicine Degree at the Freie University , Berlin. After qualification, he worked in several hospitals in Berlin including the , and the .
Career and training
As a committed and patriotic citizen, Kwakye-Maafo returned to Ghana in January 1972 to serve his country in several capacities. He served as a medical officer and then as a senior medical officer in many hospitals, namely, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, the Mampong Maternity Hospital, and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. In 1979, Kwakye-Maafo with the help of his wife Mercy established the West End Clinic, named after the ‘Westend Klinikum’ in Germany. The clinic started initially as an outpatients’ clinic, but has over the years been developed into a 40-bed hospital with theatre facilities for both minor and major surgeries. The hospital is now a referral centre providing quality health care to clients within and around the Kumasi metropolis. On 19 December 2005, he was installed the and the in the Central Region under the Stool name of ‘Nana Ohemeng Awere V’. Dr. Kwakye-Maafo is;
Dr Kwakye-Maafo is married to Mercy, a general and psychiatric nurse, who is currently on retirement. They live in Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana. They have three children Fred, Marion, Harry and several grandchildren. He still runs West End Hospital in Kumasi. A staunch Methodist, he also provides consultancy ex-gratia to the Methodist church hospitals in Ghana.
Articles, publications and presentations
"On Haemagglutination Inhibition Measles Antibodies of Pregnant Women and the Newborn" – Separation of 7S and 19S Measles Antibodies – inaugural dissertation, Berlin 1971.
The Private Sector as a major Collaborator in the Health Care Delivery with emphasis on maternal and child health – April 1995
"Quality Health Care in Ghanaian Health Institutions" - Appraisal and Challenges for the Future - Address to members of the Ghana Medical Association and to the Nation - October, 1998
"Arresting the Brain Drain in the Health Sector" – Address to members of the Ghana Medical Association and to the Nation – November, 1999.
“The Role of the Private Sector in the Health Delivery System.” Paper delivered at the 2nd Annual Public Lecture of the University of Ghana Medical Students Association Wednesday, 26 March 2003
“Pushing Forward Ghana’s Health Agenda” Responsibilities and Expectations of the Health Personnel in the New Ghana Health Service Paper delivered at the KNUST-MSA Inaugural Public Lecture Friday, 12 September 2003
Ghanaian Perspective of Achieving Quality Health Care: The role of Traditional Medicine. Integrating Traditional Medicine into Orthodox Medicine: Is Ghana ready?