Akufo-Addo appeals to govt, doctors to resume negotiations
The Presidential candidate of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appealed to the Government and the striking doctors to resume negotiations on the doctors’ demand for better condition of service.
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He explained that the only path to the resolution of the problem was for both parties to return to the negotiation table.
A statement issued yesterday from the office of Nana Akufo Addo said the strike had been occasioned by the breakdown in the negotiations between the government and the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) over the ‘Conditions of Service’ for medical doctors.
According to the statement, it was most unfortunate that these negotiations had been allowed to degenerate into the lack of confidence and display of bad faith that had led to a strike.
The statement said medical doctors, as a group of professionals, did not easily resort to strike action.
It, therefore, appealed to all those who seek to comment on the problem, especially those who speak on behalf of the government, to avoid the name-calling that had characterised government’s handling of the dispute so far.
According to the statement, it was not proper that some members of the government were seeking to politicise this strike by portraying the NPP as being the instigators.
“The doctors are negotiating to get the best terms as possible for their members, but they are not unreasonable nor are they economically illiterate,’’ the statement stressed.
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It said the doctors were not unaware of the dire economic situation that Ghana was in as a result of the reckless mismanagement by the government for which reason they had stated that their proposals were for the 2016 budget.
This should, according to the statement, give the government ample space to consider and, after negotiations were concluded, incorporate what would be agreed in the 2016 budget.
‘’Government negotiators should deal with the doctors as patriotic, knowledgeable, matured adults,’’ the statement appealed
It said “there cannot, and there will not be a resolution other than getting the doctors back to work since there is nothing to be gained from trying to call the bluff of the doctors. It is all in our interests that a negotiated settlement is found as quickly as possible.
The statement therefore called for the cessation of the media war and selective leaking of negotiating documents, intimidation and threats as well as the name-calling.