Ashanti Regional Minister Simon Osei-Mensah criticised the proposed demonstration by doctors at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) scheduled for Wednesday (13 March).
He questioned the basis of their protest, emphasising the need for valid grounds. The dispute arises from accommodation issues affecting healthcare workers in the region, with the minister asserting broader implications for all government employees.
Osei-Mensah, speaking on the Big Bulletin on Tuesday (12 March), challenged the justification behind the doctors’ protest, emphasising the importance of valid reasons. He likened the situation to someone pretending to be asleep, insinuating that ineffective actions won’t resolve the underlying issue. While acknowledging their right to protest, he questioned the appropriateness of their motive.
“Somebody deciding to demonstrate is the person’s right, but is the basis right? That is the first question we have to ask ourselves. It’s just like somebody who is not asleep and pretending that he’s asleep. All that you’ll do to wake that person up, the person will not wake up. Everybody can demonstrate, but is it right? What’s the basis?”
The doctors’ decision to strike stemmed from eviction notices allegedly issued to over 20 colleagues. However, the regional minister refuted these claims, urging transparency in verifying the authenticity of such assertions. “Call the doctors to let them give you the letter to authenticate the validity or otherwise of their claims,” Osei-Mensah remarked.
He explained the ongoing efforts to address accommodation challenges affecting not just doctors but all government workers, attributing the situation to land reallocation and redevelopment projects.
According to Osei-Mensah, the relocation process involves demolishing existing structures and constructing additional accommodations to meet the demand. He stressed the collective impact on government employees, highlighting the regional coordinating council’s responsibility in managing such transitions.
“Portions of the Danyame Nhyiaeso land have been ceded to Manhyia, and we have two years to relocate all government workers from that area to the portion that remains that of the government. So what we are doing is that we doing is that we contracted some private developers who are putting up the buildings.”
“Even where it belong to government, you have some of the structures—maybe a three-bedroom house, a four-bedroom house, a five-bedroom house situated on an acre of land, or maybe half-acre of land. We are demolishing those ones and putting up more structures—in most cases, about eight of them—so that we can have enough buildings to accommodate all those who have been affected. So it is not only the doctors; all government workers who have been provided with accommodation by the regional coordinating council, because we take care of those properties for the government, are being reallocated.”
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