In a country where the monthly minimum wage hovers around GHS450, imagine facing medical bills of GHS8,400 every month just to stay alive.
This is the crushing reality for thousands of Ghanaians suffering from kidney failure, a silent epidemic claiming lives not just through disease, but through financial impossibility.
Last week, under the warm Accra sun, businessman Alhaji Seidu Agongo stood before officials at the Ministry of Health, his eyes reflecting both determination and compassion as he presented a check for GHS500,000 to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
The presentation was on behalf of Alive Industries, redeeming a pledge Alhaji Agongo, its founder and head made during the launch of the Ghana Medical Trust Fund by President John Dramani Mahama.
“I see their faces every day,” Alhaji Agongo told the media, his voice steady but emotional. “Mothers who sell everything they own for one more treatment. Fathers, who must choose between feeding their children or staying alive to raise them.”
“These are the impossible choices no Ghanaian should have to make,” the businessman said, highlighting his closeness with the critical survival situations that drew him into making the donation.
As the owner of a dialysis center, the founder of the collapsed Heritage Bank has witnessed firsthand the devastating arithmetic of kidney disease in Ghana.
Each dialysis session costs approximately GHS800, with most patients requiring three sessions weekly—totaling about GHS8,400 monthly or roughly $800 in a country where average monthly income averages $750, according to the Global Payroll Association. More than half of the working class earn less than that, according to the association.
“In a developing country where people hardly get food to eat, this is a significant strain,” Alhaji Agongo explained, surveying the room of health officials and journalists during the donation.
“That’s nearly 20 times the minimum wage. How can we expect our people to bear this,” he asked to deafening silence.
Bolster hope, securing lives
Alhaji Agongo’s donation will bolster the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, an initiative launched under President Mahama and nicknamed “Mahama Cares.”
The program specifically targets those most vulnerable: the impoverished, unemployed, elderly, and those without support systems.
The Health Minister, Mintah Kwabena Akandoh, visibly moved during the ceremony, emphasized that the donation transcends corporate social responsibility.
“This is about Ghanaians standing for Ghanaians,” he stated. “Alhaji Agongo demonstrates what we must all aspire to—seeing the suffering of our neighbors and responding not because we have much, but because we care deeply.”
Alhaji Agongo, who also Agricult, an agricultural-focused company, stressed that his motivation stems from understanding the connection between public health and national prosperity.
“As a businessman, my success means nothing in a society where people die from treatable conditions,” he said.
“My business only flourishes in a healthy environment. We all need access to proper healthcare—not as a luxury, but as a fundamental right,” he added.
Challenging Ghanaians
Alhaji Agongo offered a challenge to fellow Ghanaians to help support each other to make live better.
“This is not about wealth—it’s about compassion. It is not because I have, but because I care. Together, let’s continue to lift others and be the reason someone gets another chance at life.”
Alhaji Agongo has donated to thousands of people across the country, including building a block for the Child Emergency United of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
