The whole issue about strikes in Ghana is nothing short of the fact that some
Ghanaians are very greedy, insensitive and unpatriotic. Taking the Ghanaians
doctors as a case-study, you will all bare witness that, the ghanaian doctor is
and has been the most respected professional in ghana. Those of us who have had
the opportunities to live in other countries can say without arguing that
doctors are well esteemed in every country, both richer and poorer. Talk of
Senegal, talk of Cameroon, Chad, the US, etc. Some, well paid than others
depending on the economic conditions of their respective countries. That means
that it is unfair for any patriotic professional to want to be paid or treated
differently or special without reflecting on the situation in his/her country or
want to be paid like his counterparts in other countries.
If we are really interested in comparing, we will all accept the fact that the
Ghanaian government is treating her medical professionals far far better than
most countries do. Their pay, allowances, and benefits are incomparable to any
professional or civil servant in Ghana today. The intentions on the part of the
government is to make the conditions of these health professionals like the
doctors better so they can serve their mother Ghana. That is why housing is
allocated to them as soon as they come out of the medical school. That is why a
DCE will want to vacate his house for doctors to occupy because the doctors did
not have accommodation. That is why car loans are made ready for them as soon as
they are posted to their work paces... etc etc
But for them to not be thankful and rather feel that their job is better than
the job of a teacher, the policemen, the agric. workers, fishermen and want to
have everything to themselves only is unfortunate.
If all along the government has been paying for further studies for the doctors,
and at this time the government says it cannot afford to pay for their
postgraduate studies, just like it could not do for the teachers, the policemen,
the engineers, the agric workers, why will a patriotic citizen want to go on
strike for this reason? In any case, why will any good doctor feel that they
should get all they want while our school going kids, future doctors like
themselves, prospective engineers are left to rot under trees in Kpikpira in
the UE/R and Yawpare in BA - no teachers, no books, no classrooms. For lack of
extension workers, and in this era, there is still food shortage in Ghana.
Teachers, the policemen, firefighters... all need further training and they know
that as well. But the problem is that the government is just not capable now to
do so and they take it in good faith. They don't strike because the government
is not paying for them to go to school. They are just working tirelessly to make
Ghana a better Ghana so that one day InshaAllah, the government can sponsor them
to go to school. These school going kids sitting under the neem and baobab trees
in Kpikpira in the UE/R and under the Oak tree in Yawpare in BA did not abandon
school because the government did not build classrooms, or send teachers. They
persisted against all odds, hoping and praying that one day at least their kids
will have the opportunity to study in a classroom, with a teacher. It is with
this hope that has brought some of us this far. Hope. Hope Hope all the time,
and it is high time or doctors joined the train of hope and understand that
their job is just as important as any other job and as structural engineers will
put it " any member in a structure plays a very important role and if a member
fails, the whole structure is affected"
Justice B. Lambon
Minnetonka/ USA
