The Minority in Parliament has warned the government to immediately clear containers with medical supplies from the Tema Port for the benefit of Ghanaians, and failure to do so will force them to hit the streets.
Addressing members of the Parliamentary Press Corps, the Ranking Member of the Health Committee, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, said that since the Health Minister has pleaded for a two-week period to clear the containers from the port, they will wait until that time has elapsed before taking any further action.
“We are a group of reasonable people, and so we have heard the plea by the Minister responsible for health that we should give him two weeks. Although it doesn’t make sense to plead for two weeks to clear commodities that have been at the port for one good year. But, notwithstanding, we have heard him,” he said.
The Ranking Member, therefore, issued a warning to the government that within the Minister’s own given time, which is two weeks, “all the containers containing these drugs must be cleared from the port, not some, as they have been doing”.
“Failure to do so will leave us with no option but to hit the streets.”
On the laboratory workers’ strike, Hon. Akandoh advised the government to plead with them, even while they are on the negotiation table, to return to their various hospitals to render services to the sick.
He further revealed that Ghana’s healthcare system has been depleted by a massive brain drain, with at least 69,000 health personnel leaving the country between 2021 and 2023, bound for greener pastures abroad. The exodus, driven by economic hardship, has resulted in a severe shortage of nurses in hospitals across the nation.
“As a matter of urgency, I believe that the government must respond to their call and ensure that these health workers are back in the hospitals, because we already have numerous challenges at the health facilities. They are leaving, in fact, fleeing the country due to the economic conditions we find ourselves in,” he stated.
Story by Nana Kwaku Boffah
