Kwesi Nduom: Mills� Comment On Single Spine "Very Unfortunate�

The 2008 flag bearer of the Convention People�s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has condemned comments by President John Mills that the NPP left no money to implement the Single Spine Salary Structure. According to him, it is very unfortunate for such comments to come from the president during the third year of his administration when he had ample time to critically assess before implementing the SSSS. President Mills on Tuesday stated that the NPP announced the new salary structure, but left no money to implement it. The president made the comments while appealing to striking doctors to exercise restraint and to return to their wards at a durbar in Dodowa during his tour of the Greater Accra region. Doctors across the country last Friday declared a nationwide strike accusing the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission of ignoring their concerns. Teachers in the Greater Accra region on Tuesday also stated that they would suspend their services by next week Monday if government fails to pay their two-month salary arrears. The flag bearer of the opposition NPP Nana Akufo-Addo on Wednesday challenged president Atta-Mills to show leadership beyond merely asking the striking doctors to return to their post. Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, Dr Nduom noted that President Mills� administration had access to all documents concerning how the various stages through which SSSS would go through and the many problems that it might encounter. He said the NDC government must only blame itself and avoid shifting its inability to successfully implement the SSSS on the previous government since members of his administration had ample time to study whether the implementation of the SSSS would be feasible or otherwise. �I find it rather unfortunate that our president would make those kinds of statements at this time in October 2011 because his administration had access to all the documents left by the previous administration including cabinet memoranda and other documents including how this pay reform would entail and how much it might cost,� Nduom said. �So I would have wished they would have done a careful assessment to determine if it fit into their strategy and in their budget and if it didn�t fit come out to the Ghanaian public and say sorry we cannot do this. �