The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Friday declared it had stepped up its strike action by withdrawing emergency services from all government hospitals, local media reported Friday.
The decision followed failed negotiations with the government over the provision of a formal document containing their conditions of service.
The Parliamentary Committee on Health met officials of the GMA in an attempt to persuade the doctors to call off their strike but the doctors remained adamant, insisting they would not go back to work until their demands for conditions of service were met.
The deputy General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Justice Yankson, confirmed the meeting with the Committee, which said everything was being done to resolve the situation.
Giving reasons for their decision to scale up the strike, Dr. Yankson stated: “Where we are, there’s nothing like going back to work for now. We have to deal with the issues. We also wouldn’t want things done without a proper resolution of the matter.”
The Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations has ordered the doctors to call off their “illegal strike” and return to work.
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama recently reiterated that he would not be pressured into authorizing payments outside the country’s budget.
However, the president of the GMA, Dr Kwabena Adusei Poku, has said the association and government had agreed to insert the payment of their conditions of service in the 2015/2016 budget after an agreement had been reached.
According to him, the association is not demanding the payment of their conditions of service this year but rather in 2016.
Dr Adusei told Citi News any agreement made on their conditions of service must be implemented in January 2016. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
