Mahama is a confused man – Atik Mohammed

Policy Analyst of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) Atik Mohammed has said President John Mahama’s reaction to the ongoing strike by public sector doctors shows how ignorant he is about the medical professionals concerns.

According to him, the President exposed how confused he was about the issues at stake when he sought to brush aside the doctors’ grievances.

President John Mahama at the opening of the 10th Biennial General Meeting of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association (GRMA) at the University of Ghana indicated he will not authorise any expenditure on wages not provided for in the budget for both workers and Article 72 office holders.

He said the demands by the Ghana Medical Association will adversely affect the Single Spine Pay Policy and urged them not to wreck the gains made to achieve fiscal discipline.

President John Mahama noted that any unbudgeted payment made to the doctors will open the floodgates for others in the health sector to make demands that will lead to distortions in the Single Spine Salary Structure.

The president’s comments come a week after doctors embarked on a strike action over the absence of better conditions of service. They’ve threatened to resign en bloc if their demands are not met.

However contributing to a discussion on Peace FM Thursday morning, Mr Atik Mohammed insisted that the President lacked details about the doctors’ industrial action, adding that the demands of the doctors are meant to be effective 2016 and not this year.

“They are not saying you should pay them from now, or with retrospective effective, they want these conditions of service effective next year, the President clearly appears not to know this fact.”

He noted that the President’s acquired “dead goat syndrome” had begun manifesting itself even in his reaction to the doctors issue.

“You returned from Botswana claiming you had a dead goat syndrome, but I expected some of these same doctors you are speaking against to cure you of the disease, but you never wanted your condition cured and now it is having an effect on your governance.“

He condemned moves by government to incite the public against the doctors, adding that the doctors must be given their due.