Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Monday, August
03, 2015
Dr Frank Serebuor, General Secretary of the Ghana Medical
Association (GMA), lost his cool during a radio interview last Friday when he
descended heavily on a National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication officer
whom he said was running doctors down without any justification.
“For all you know, this idiot in your studio receives free fuel,
free call credit and free accommodation. Which public sector doctor has free
accommodation? We pay rent to the government,” Dr Serebuor charged, referring
to Yeboah Boateng, an NDC communicator, on Hot FM, an Accra-based radio
station, during its political programme, ‘Dwene Ho Biom,’ hosted by Isaac
Boamah Darko.
No Love Lost
There has been no love lost between the Mahama NDC government and
doctors over the conditions of service including end of service benefits of the
latter.
In the ensuing confusion, some NDC communication officers, with
support from the presidency, have released a document which they claim
contained what is termed as ‘outrageous’ demands from the GMA, but the doctors
rebutted and said the contents of the document were not what they presented on
their improved conditions of service.
A presidential staffer, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, had sought to
downplay the doctors’ demands by putting out figures which the GMA leadership
had come out to deny, even though the government appointees had equally failed to tell Ghanaians how much
they also draw at the expense of the taxpayer each month.
The striking doctors are asking the likes of Stan Dogbe to tell
Ghanaians how much they receive as salaries and perks.
They also accused the Mahama administration of using their
propagandists to sow seed of discord between doctors and the public instead of
listening to the genuine concerns that they have put on the negotiation table
and offer what the government can accommodate.
First Salvo
Matters came to a head when Yeboah Boateng, who kept fumbling with
the facts of the issue, took his turn to make his point and ended up insulting
the GMA President, Dr Kwabena Poku-Adusei, for leading the strike.
“Is Dr Poku-Adusei who has risen through the ranks to become the
President of GMA telling us that he doesn’t know what is in their contract?
They should quit the job. We are tired of them. I am serious about what I am
saying,” the NDC man boasted.
“Are they telling us that
they are going on strike and that the soldiers can also go on strike? The
doctors are not fair to Ghanaians at all. Is that how they want to treat mother
Ghana? They have signed a Hippocratic Oath so why are they now allowing money
to influence their work?” Yeboah Boateng queried.
He said, “They can leave the job so that those who love the NDC
government and President Mahama can do the job for us,” and alleged that the
GMA leadership “is imposing its will on some of their members. Some of the
members are not happy with what Dr Poku-Adusei and his gang are doing.”
Private
Hospitals
The NDC propagandist claimed that the GMA is “doing this to make
sure their private hospitals can flourish,” and described their demands as
outrageous.
“Some doctors even take salaries more than high court judges yet
they are still complaining.
“They are not being fair to teachers who developed them to become
doctors. It is not even about salary but rather end of service benefits; and they
are on strike.”
Idiot
Dr Serebuor, who was called into the programme, countered what he
said were “stupid” things being said about doctors by the NDC man and his
colleagues.
“Tell that idiot in the studio that he is not the one who decides
what we should do. We decide for ourselves what we should do. If he is tired of
us he can go anywhere and chew leaves which are also medicinal,” he fumed.
“It is sad that we have to do this to ourselves. I’m not sure all
the doctors own private hospitals. Even the law does not allow you to work in
the public sector and still own a medical facility of any kind. Occasionally,
some doctors will use their free time to go and practise in some private
hospitals but not all doctors.
“There are some people in this country who talk trash and think that
they can fool Ghanaians all the time. They go to the radio stations and say all
sorts of things against doctors and get away with them. These are the stupid
people who make this country difficult for everybody. They hide behind politics
and say all sorts of things against professionals.
“We are sick and tired of these politicians. When they were bringing
their stupid propaganda of our demands why didn’t they bring their counter
proposal? The police administration he is trying to compare, don’t they retire
on their salaries? “Which doctor working for the government retires on his
salary?”
Dr Serebuor, who could not restrain himself, continued: “A fool like
you, don’t you collect free fuel for your car? The salary you take for just doing
propaganda for your party, is it not bigger than what doctors take? These are
the foolish people the media allow; and that is why this country has
degenerated. These idiots are trying to tell us what we should do in this
country.
“These guys don’t even work yet they are paid for doing propaganda.
We work saving lives to the best of our abilities and we are not rewarded for
our efforts, yet these people hop from radio station to radio station
denigrating others and at the end they are paid huge salaries and when we
genuinely complain they want to attack us.”
Sickening
Propaganda
Dr Serebuor added, “They should take their sickening propaganda and
lies to the hospitals and work in our absence.
“We will not let them dictate the way we should go. We have decided
what we want to do and they can do what they like. We are withdrawing all OPD
services and if they want us to descend in the gutters to them we are ready to
do so. What kind of nonsense is that? It is because we don’t respond to the
sickening propaganda they think they can take us for a ride?
“Doctors in this country
worked for 11 months without salary. How many people in the military or the
police worked for 11 months and were not paid?”
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