Junior doctors protest delays in salary payment; But govt promises action by end of July
Frustrated junior doctors in the country’s hospitals yesterday picketed at the premises of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) in a bid to end 11 months of working without pay.
The doctors, some in their white work apparel, gathered at the CAGD quietly, while their representatives were locked up in the meeting early in the morning.
While some of them stood in groups talking, others sat on concrete boulders, waiting patiently for their representatives to come out of the meeting and convey to them decisions arrived at.
However after a meeting between the deputy Minister of Health, Dr Victor Bampoe, officials of the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) and the Ministry of Finance on one side and representatives of junior doctors, it was resolved that 64 junior doctors would be paid their salaries by Wednesday, July 29, 2015, while 27 more would be paid by next month.
The 64 would be paid by that date because they have been processed to receive their salaries, while processing of the other 27 is yet to be completed for their salaries to be released by August, 2015.
The police
Police personnel, some in riot gear, also stood in some sort of formation along the streets leading to the CAGD.
The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, explaining the presence of the police, said they had heard the junior doctors on some FM stations saying they were marching to the CAGD.
“Not having been informed, and not knowing the number of junior doctors marching here, we also had to prepare and come to ensure some order,” he told the Daily Graphic.
“If we had been informed about this, we would have just assigned some men to come with them. But we were not informed,” he added.
Junior doctors
However, a spokesperson of the junior doctors, Nana Kissi, also in an interview with the paper before he entered into the meeting with the Minister of Health, said he was amazed at the presence of the police.
He said the presence and gear of police officials at the CAGD was as if they were there to quell a riot.
“Doctors are smart people. They are not rowdy. Wherein then lies the justification in the presence of all the policemen and women in their riot gear?” he queried.
Some of the junior doctors also expressed the same amazement at the presence of the police.
“If this extent of attention is paid to crime, we would not have armed robbery in Ghana,” Richmond Akanteyan said.
They explained that since their appointment 11 months ago, they had gone through all processes needed to be remunerated.
These included the signing of IPPD forms, biometric registration and a financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance.
Upon the completion of all the processes, they added, a copy of the printout, bearing some of the critical information needed such as their social security numbers, was given to each junior doctor.
They claimed that while the Ministry of Finance gave the financial clearance, the CAGD took their biometric details, while other information was also provided by the Ministry of Health.
The meeting
After the meeting, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, also announced other decisions arrived at.
He said to forestall delays in the future, the Ministry of Health would compile the names of all doctors two months before they graduated from medical school.
The names would be submitted to the Ministry of Finance, where clearance would be given in two weeks for the salaries of doctors to be paid by the CAGD.
The spokesperson of the junior doctors said by 4p.m. tomorrow July 29, 2015, if the government reneged on its commitment, they would be back in public to let all Ghanaians know that the government had broken its promise to them.
Writer's email: caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh