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Ghanaian doctors embark on nationwide strike

Xinhua, July 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Medical doctors operating in Ghana's public hospitals announced a nationwide strike here on Thursday demanding better conditions of service.

The doctors are also threatening a mass resignation if the issues are not resolved by government amicably after a week.

The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) said the doctors will start withdrawing their services from the Out-Patient Department (OPD) services for a week to press for the finalization of the conditions of service.

"As we speak now, the GMA is on strike. We can now go home and sleep and declare ourselves unemployed," GMA General Secretary Frank Serebuor told media.

The doctors also indicated they might resign en mass if the situation about their condition of service is not worked on as a matter of urgency.

According to the GMA, doctors had worked in Ghana over the years without a single document that described their conditions of service.

They therefore embarked on negotiations with government to rectify the situation with a June 28 deadline which was extended to July 28.

Although Labor Minister Haruna Iddrisu had said the doctors had resolved to continue working while negotiations lingered, Serebuor said there was a roadmap for the strike action by doctors.

"The doctors did well to extend their 'deadline' for conclusion of the discussions, and I guess they do realize that in reality the issues go beyond just a one-day meeting," a presidential staff explained on his social media platform.

According to him, the doctors wanted an increase in their On-Call Duty allowance from 10 percent of basic salary to 20 percent of basic salary, and allowance for accommodation from 20 percent to 40 percent of basic salary as well as fuel for House Officers from 30 gallons to 80 gallons per month.

The GMA is also demanding 90 gallons of fuel for PMO Specialists in a month; 100 gallons of fuel for Senior Specialist consultants in a month and an across the board monthly clothing allowance, and 30 percent of basic salary.

The Presidential staffer said the GMA is also demanding other conditions be instituted in addition to their salaries.

Government of Ghana has been working to cut down on the public sector wage bill which has been one of the major causes of recent fiscal slippages.

Junior doctors were also on strike for a week until Wednesday over unpaid allowances for nine months. Endit