Monday, 10 August 2015
Arthur Kennedy Writes To Prez Mahama.
Politician, author and physician, Dr Arthur Kobina Kennedy believes while President Mahama’s remarks on the demands by doctors for improved service conditions appear consistent with his “dead goat philosophy”, his “posture is unfortunate.”
Read Dr. Kennedy’s open letter below.
MR. PRESIDENT, NEGOTIATE AND SAVE LIVES
Irmo, South Carolina
9TH August, 2015
Your Excellency,
RE: NEGOTIATING WITH THE DOCTORS
I have read with alarm, your comments regarding the curtailment of services by Ghanaian doctors. While your remarks appear consistent with your “dead goat philosophy”, your posture is unfortunate.
To add to your remarks, NDC officials and communicators have taken to the airwaves to applaud your posture, to belittle the doctors and to openly call for replacing them with Cubans.
These developments are delaying, unfortunately, the difficult negotiations that must occur to halt the needless loss of lives. The Cuban solution, considering cost and the language barriers that reduce their effectiveness, is spiteful and wasteful diversion.
Mr. President, every day that this crisis is not resolved will take a toll--- in lives—the lives of innocent citizens. In this case, your Excellency, TIME IS LIFE!
Sir, you have sworn an oath to dedicate yourself to the “service and well-being of the people “and the doctors have sworn to “first, do no harm” to people. Both you and the Doctors must live up to your oaths. I know you care about the lives of the innocents caught in this cross-fire. I know that the Doctors are led by a man who takes his oath to do no harm seriously. I know because when I worked with you to resolve an earlier strike by Doctors, you conveyed that to me in the strongest terms.
I also know of Dr. Opoku Adusei’s unbending commitment to medicine and his patients because he has expressed them to me and lived that commitment in my presence repeatedly. Your Excellency, regardless of the mistakes that may have been made in presenting their grievances, the doctors have legitimate grievances. How can you justify having people work for nearly a year without pay? How can those who care for others not have adequate provision for their care when they need it?
I urge you to move expeditiously to resolve this crisis as only you can. While you must not negotiate out of fear, sir, you must never fear to negotiate. While you get down to the negotiating table, I urge you to silence and rebuke those in your party who have made this a partisan issue. Disease and death are not partisan and we must stop the pretense that there is partisan advantage to be gained from this crisis. Any politician, regardless of party, who puts partisan advantage ahead of the lives of Ghanaians is, quite simply, a traitor to Ghana. I commend to your Excellency and the leaders of the doctors, the words of Isaiah 1:18 “Come, let us reason together”.
Finally, when this crisis is over, Mr. President, lead a national conversation on the crisis in healthcare and on the labour front. Is it time to abandon the Single Spine Salary System? Is there a need to look at additional revenues for NHIS, including an increase in existing taxes and the raising of new revenue--- from health professionals who were educated by Ghana and are practicing elsewhere?
May God bless you.
May God bless Ghana.
Let move forward, together!
Sincerely,
Your Vandal Mate,
Arthur Kobina Kennedy
His Excellency
John Mahama,
President of Ghana
Jubilee House, Accra. Source peacefmonline.com
Ghanaian Lady Commits Suicide After Catching Her Mum With Her Husband.
This Ghanaian lady allegedly committed suicide by jumping from her apartment after she caught her mum sleeping with her husband. The video is trending on twitter.
Of course I can't share it here. Quite sad!..but it looks like it happened a while back.
Source: peacefmonline.com
Friday, 7 August 2015
The Failure Of Prez Mahama Doesn't Guarantee N.P.P Victory In 2016 Election. Nana Addo.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, has admonished members of his party to be mindful of the fact that the failings of President John Dramani Mahama and his National Democratic Congress government does not automatically guarantee victory for the NPP in the 2016 polls.
According to Nana Akufo-Addo, despite every sector of the Ghanaian economy being on a downward spiral, coupled with the worsening standards of living of Ghanaians, “President Mahama and his government will do everything possible to cling onto power.”
In view of this, and to ensure victory for the party in 2016, the NPP flagbearer is urging all members of the party to be guarded constantly by the need for unity of purpose to exist amongst the rank and file of party, whilst, at the same time, working hard in their respective polling stations and constituencies.
Nana Akufo-Addo made these comments when newly elected parliamentary candidates from the Juaben constituency, on Tuesday, August 4, and Okaikoi North and Assin North constituencies, on Wednesday August 5, paid separate courtesy calls on him formally to introduce themselves to him, after their respective victories in the parliamentary primaries.
“We should not think that because of the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy, and the incompetence being displayed by this NDC government, the NPP will have an easy ride to power in 2016. The NDC is only interested in the next election and what they can get for themselves whilst in office, and will, therefore, not go down ‘without a fight’. They are not bothered about the suffering of the ordinary man,” Akufo-Addo said
He continued, “We have a lot of work to do as a party, if victory is to be ours in 2016. Our victory in 2016 will not be an NPP victory, but victory for Ghana. The party in your constituency is looking up to you, the newly elected candidates, for leadership. Make your fellow aspirants who were not successful, a part of your campaign, and you can be assured of victory.”
To every polling station and every household in their constituencies, he urged the parliamentary candidates to send the NPP’s message of hope, progress and prosperity for all Ghanaians under an Akufo-Addo government.
“The NPP is coming back because we have a plan to develop this country, so we can bring progress and prosperity to all parts of Ghana. We are coming so the young people of our country can get work to do. We have the men and women who can give this country a first class government, because Ghana is entitled to be a prosperous nation, not a poor country,” he added.
In concluding, Nana Akufo-Addo admonished the gathering, and indeed all NPP members, to desist from always resorting to the use of the media in airing out grievances pertaining to internal party issues.
“We in the NPP, these days, always want to be in the news. We are always running to the media with our internal issues. Let me emphasise this once again. If there are things you have to say which are critical in nature, please let’s do so indoors. We must move away from always sending all our problems to the radio and the newspapers,” he said.
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
Am Not Regret And Will Not Apologise. Dr Frank Serebour.
General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Dr Frank Serebuor says he does not regret and will not apologise for calling a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) an “idiot”.
“I don’t regret what I said and I will not apologise or retract my comments”, he said on Peace FM’s morning show, ‘Kokrokoo’.
Doctors across the country have embarked on a strike to demand better conditions of service.
They have shown a clear intent to resign en masse if government does not provide them with appropriate conditions of service.
The situation has generated a lot of discussion in the media as several hospitals have started turning away patients due to the absence of doctors.
During a discussion on Accra-based radio station, Hot FM on Friday, July 31, 2015, Dr Serebuor lashed out at Yeboah Boateng for accusing President of the GMA of instigating the strike by doctors for political reasons.
Yeboah Boateng said “is Dr Poku-Adusei who has risen through the ranks to become the President of GMA telling us that he doesn’t know what is in their contract? They should quit the job. We are tired of them. I am serious about what I am saying."
He claimed that the GMA is “doing this to make sure their private hospitals can flourish,” and described their demands as outrageous.
“Some doctors even take salaries more than high court judges yet they are still complaining. They are not being fair to teachers who developed them to become doctors. It is not even about salary but rather end of service benefits; and they are on strike.”
Dr Serebuor in a sharp rebuttal said among other things that “for all you know, this idiot in your studio receives free fuel, free call credit and free accommodation. Which public sector doctor has free accommodation? We pay rent to the government,”
“Tell that idiot in the studio that he is not the one who decides what we should do. We decide for ourselves what we should do. If he is tired of us he can go anywhere and chew leaves which are also medicinal,” he fumed.
He added that “it is sad that we have to do this to ourselves. I’m not sure all the doctors own private hospitals. Even the law does not allow you to work in the public sector and still own a medical facility of any kind. Occasionally, some doctors will use their free time to go and practice in some private hospitals but not all doctors”.
Dr Serebuor said he wouldn’t apologise over the comments because “I was provoked”.
Although he agreed that his comment was out of place and uncomplimentary, he stressed that “at a point in time, you need to let people know that you can descend to their level.
“I won’t say anything like that again but I don’t regret saying it...I am not bothered about the reactions”.
Meanwhile, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has asked health insurance cardholders to revert to approved private health facilities for medical care.
The Health Ministry has also ordered all heads of health facilities to stay at post to work with other non-striking staff during the period of the strike.
It has directed ambulance services to remain on standby across the country to help coordinate emergency cases.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Philip Addison Can't Determine When Elections Should Be Held In NPP- Kwabena Agyapong.
The General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party [NPP], Kwabena Agyapong, has said Lawyer Philip Addison has no right to determine when elections should be held in the NPP.
“He [Lawyer Addison] cannot determine elections. He is just to file for nomination and campaign. Then the election committee will fix a date for all aspirants,” he said.
Kwabena Agyapong made this assertion after Lawyer Philip Addison, who lost in his bid to become the NPP’s 2016 Parliamentary candidate for the Korle Klottey Constituency in the Greater Accra Region accused the party national chairman, Paul Afoko and general secretary, Kwabena Agyapong of election malpractice.
Lawyer Addison on NEAT FM described the elections as a “sham” and “shameful”; adding that the duo – “had already arranged for the winner of the election before the election day which was not even set. It was a one sided elections. It’s very shameful. The election was to come off on August 8, 2015”.
Speaking on NEAT FM’s morning show "Ghana Montie", Kwabena Agyapong affectionately called in politics as “General 1” noted that the Accra-based lawyer's claims are baseless.
He told host Kwesi Aboagye that; several dates was set for the primaries but was void due to court issues – “So if the court says we can vote, then it is only right for us to organize the elections at any time. The constituency executives agreed on the date before we held the elections so I don’t know why people are saying there was no consultations. They should read the guideline of the process”.
“Everything was followed according to the letter. I will plead with them to bring unity into the party,” he advised.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com
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