Saturday,
August 15, 2015
Folks, one sticky point in the
agitations by members of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) is the publishing
of the document containing their demands. Accusing fingers have been pointed at
Stan Dogbe, a member of the Presidential Staff, as the “culprit”. He has been condemned
as the one who “unscrupulously” published the document on his Facebook page to
the chagrin of the GMA; and some are even calling for his dismissal from
office.
The Offinsohene, Nana Wiafe
Akenten II, was very loud in condemning Stan, accusing him of impropriety while
members of the GMA (especially the President and Secretary) insisted that
publishing that document ran counter to the understanding between the GMA and
the government to keep the “proposals” close to their chests. Their main beef
is that by this disclosure, Stan has embarrassed all and created a bad public
image for the GMA.
Some political opponents have
even gone to the needless extent of claiming that the release of the GMA’s
document indicated that state secrets were at risk of being disclosed by those
in charge of affairs. They have been quick to blame the government for doing
what will endanger state secrets.
I strongly disagree with all
these critics or whatever one wants to call them because they have it all
wrong. Beyond that, I highly commend Stan Dogbe—if, indeed, he was responsible
for publicizing the doctors’ demands as contained in that document. By this
singular act, he has helped us know a lot to facilitate public discourse. He
deserves much appreciation; and wherever I meet him, I will give him a huge
bear-hug. So should all others benefiting from the published document do!!
After all, such a document has
nothing secret about it to warrant its being hidden from the public. It is a
document that should have been made available for public scrutiny long ago so
the tax payers can be informed. What Stan did fits squarely into the ambit of
the Right to Information Act, which our Parliament is incapable of enacting. By
his bold move alone, he has opened the floodgates for us to gather as much
information about the doctors’ demands as we need to know what is at stake. And
once we know what is at stake, we can easily write these striking doctors off
as pesky bugs to be squashed in public discourse. That is what irks the GMA and
its faceless backers seeking political capital out of the impasse. Shameless
opportunists!!
Something is seriously wrong with
them. Why don’t they think that it is important and good for the public to know
the doctors’ demands? Why do they think that the document should remain
“esoteric” when the reality of the situation says otherwise? Why the secrecy?
And they don’t even know how to
go about doing things. There is nothing about the doctors’ demands that
qualifies as a “state secret” to be kept under wraps and known to only those
with the need to know. Neither should anybody blame Stan for acting boldly;
that is if he, indeed, was the one who published the document.
All those doing government
business and are sworn into office know that their conduct is guided by the
State Secrets Act (Act 101), which enjoins them to keep their mouths shut over
matters bordering on state secrets and security. They know the severe
punishment that awaits any of them who shoots his/her mouth anyhow to expose such
secrets. Even when sworn out of office or dismissed, they dare not say what
they shouldn’t. They dare not even carry along with them any document
containing any state secret. They know where the line is drawn and dare not
overstep bounds. Only ignorant people say anything about “state secrets”. I
urge them to lay hands on Act 101 to read!!
The demands made by the GMA
(whether portrayed as proposals to the government or not) are not part of state
secrets. They are issues not to be hidden from the public because they have
dire consequences for the national purse; and the tax payers must know what
they entail. That is why it is heart-warming for them to be revealed as such.
Anybody claiming that the
document containing those demands was meant for only the government must be
joking. It is meant to be placed in the public domain for the tax payers to
know how their tax money is to be spent, supporting the lifestyle of the doctors.
Placing that document in the public domain for analysis is a good service to
the country and its people for which whoever made it available must be
commended and not condemned.
All other documents of this sort
for any institution or professional group in the public sector must also be
published for the citizens to know what is at stake. After all, the kind of
“aura” or secrecy that some think must surround such issues won’t help us
improve our democracy for as long as the tax payers remain ignorant of how
their money is spent. Now that we know what the doctors are looking for, we
will keep monitoring the situation till the dust settles.
In any case, their demands have
already been dismissed as “outrageous” and President Mahama has dug in to
insist that his government won’t spend money not budgeted for. He has also
reinforced his “dead goat” metaphor by saying that he won’t budge, even if it
will negatively affect his political standing. He won’t sacrifice the national
purse for political expediency. Excellent resolve!!
The next move to make is to
ensure that all that is already being enjoyed by the doctors (and other
professionals) which they don’t pay for is withdrawn. I have in mind
accommodation. If the doctors (and other professionals asking for more without
raising productivity) currently enjoy rent-free accommodation, they should be
made to pay rent at the existing commercial rate for them to feel the pinch
that other workers endure. They must not be pampered at all.
That is why the government’s
counter-proposal to pare down the doctors’ demand for 100 gallons of petrol
every month is ridiculous. It must not give any free petrol to any of them.
They must buy their own fuel from their earnings so they will learn how to
manage their lives. The days of Father Christmas are long gone and the doctors
must be told the bare truth and charged to respect it.
There are many other areas to
consider, and I urge the government to do all in its power to enunciate
policies to change the paradigm. Unless it does so, the problems caused by the
doctors can’t be solved; and the situation regarding other professionals in
other sectors on strike or threatening to go on strike must also be scrutinized
and re-appraised for the necessary remedial measures to be taken so no one abuses
the system.
In the final analysis, revealing
anything about their agitations and demands—as has been done with the
publishing of the GMA’s demands—should be encouraged. In this particular case
of the GMA, whoever released the document needs our support to improve
performance. It is not the revelation of this document that should embarrass
the GMA members; it is their own miscalculations that should. And now that they
are losing traction, they had better rethink so they can cross the Rubicon with
less agony.
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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