<<Print>>President John Dramni Mahama has insisted that the strike action being embarked upon by doctors in the public sector is 'illegal' and 'does not make sense'.
The first gentleman of the land speaking on national broadcaster, Uniiq FM said “nobody must die because of an illegal strike.'
“The labour law states that nobody must negotiate under duress. Even before negotiations begun they declared strike. Nobody must die as a result of an illegal strike. The doctors strike is illegal… The doctors must go back to work while negotiations continue in good faith,” he said.
According to him, the doctors went ahead to declare their industrial action when negotiations for their service conditions were still underway. “We’re paying doctors their salaries and allowances as negotiated on single spine, but instead conditions of service...,” he said.
He added that government can only give the doctors what it has and nothing more since any attempt to give them preferential treatment will trigger chaos in the labour front. “A leader must take the decision that needs to be taken and I believe Ghanaians are discerning.
“I think that the time has come when we have to do what we have to do and not keep an eye on the political ball. This government has taken some of the toughest decisions" he stated.
Ghanaian doctors are on an indefinite strike pending a mass resignation following government's inability to agree on their service conditions.