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GMA Boss Dr. Frank Serebour Goes On Insult Spree; Tells Ghanaians To Go And Chew Grass When They Are Ill

The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), last Friday afternoon, dropped his seven-year old acquired Stethoscope and descended into the gutters, using dirty language, insults and political tantrums to rebut a view that, their proposed Conditions of Service including, an all expense paid medical treatment abroad thrown at government, was outrageous. Dr. Frank Serebour, reacting to a view expressed by a member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team, Yeboah Boateng in the studios of Accra-based Hot FM, behaved in a manner a learned surgeon of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), would not behave. He used words such as, stupid, nonsense, “Kwasia” or fool, imbecile, among other unprintable insults on Yeboah Boateng, and directed him and other Ghanaians to go ahead and chew grass when they are ill, since medical doctors, will not be available in the hospitals to administer drugs to them, because they are going to resign from the Ghana Health Service, shortly.

The vulgar attack by Dr. Serebour, comes on the heels of a failed attempt by government and the GMA to reach an acceptable Conditions of Service for the medical practitioners, which last week led to a nationwide strike action, and has been described as illegal by many including, labour expert, Austin Gamey of Gamey and Gamey. Dr. Serebour, who was clearly on heat throwing political tantrums at government officials, and the NDC party, added that, the country was been ruled with lies and propaganda.

Many attempts by the host, Boamah Darko, to get him to retract some of his unprintable words, fell on deaf ears, as he insisted he was justified in calling into the station to angrily react to claims that, the GMA demands were unreasonable. The GMA proposal, which has widely been described by most taxpayers as ridiculous, made some 15 audacious demands including, Health, Safety and Wellbeing, a state-sponsored Post-Graduate Medical Education, Book Allowance, Utility Allowance, Clothing Allowance, Professional Allowance, Special Risk Allowance, Vehicle Maintenance Allowance, Vehicle Tax Exemption or waiver for doctors and a full cost medical treatment abroad, accompanied by a family member or a care taker. The proposal, demanded that medical doctors are categorized into A2 for Consultants, A3 for Senior Specialist, A4 for Specialist/Chief Medical (Dental) Officer, Deputy Chief Medical (Dental) Officer, A5 for Principal Medical (Dental) Officer (PMO), B1 for Senior Medical (Dental) Officer (SMO), B2 for Medical (Dental) Officer to B3 for House Officer. The three-page document dated June 29, 2015, further demanded that medical doctors, dental officers “and above retire on their last salary especially, where the doctor has served a minimum of 15 years in the Ministry of Health/its agencies”. The document signed by GMA President, Kwabena Opoku-Adusei, aside a 40 percent accommodation allowance on their basic salaries, demanded an official vehicle, a total of 270 gallons of fuel allowances for all the categories including, Housemen, a lump sum long service award after working continuously for a minimum of 15 years with the Ministry of Health.

It said “That Members of GMA working for MOH/it Agencies shall be entitled to Overtime Duty Allowance of minimum 200 hours per a month which is the standard above the 40 hours per a week that is currently being paid for under the Single Spine Pay Policy”. Below is the full transcription of the attack Dr. Serebour unleashed on the NDC activist, Yeboah Boateng, last Friday, whose only crime was to take issue with the medical association demand, their strike action, as well as threats to resign amass from the Ghana Health Service; . Dr. Serebour…..Tell him he is not the one to decide what we should do. We decide what we want to do. If he feels he is tired, when he is sick, he should go and chew herbs, because that is also there, it is also medicine. These are the kinds of people who have come to town and speak trash. They just say any stupid things they think all Ghanaians are as stupid as they are. So they can come to the studio and say all that they want to say. This is not the way to speak. You sit in the studio and feel you are more sensible than everybody, for all you know, you didn’t get enough education like we had. What is your educational qualification? If you are sensible and intelligent, stupid, wouldn’t you have become a doctor like us? These are the stupid people who make this country difficult for everybody and they think that, they are the only sensible people, they can use their political background come and sit there and say stupid things for everybody to listen. We are sick and tired of them.

When they were bringing their propaganda into the public domain, why didn’t they bring their counter proposal? The police you are talking about, don’t they retire on their salary, which doctor retires on his salary? We are talking about this and you are sitting there speaking trash, a fool like you, you are given free fuel for your vehicle. You fool sitting there, don’t they give you fuel to power your car to drive into the studio to speak nonsense? Lies and stupidity have engulfed you. Stupid, how much are you paid, mention it, is it not bigger than what doctors take? These are the kinds of people you allow them, they come and sit in the studio and say all kinds of foolish things. You should shut them up, because I have been listening to the stupid things he has been saying all along. These are the foolish people that we allow and this country has degenerated to this point to the extent that we get idiots like this to come and sit there, then tell us what we should do in this country. These are the people who cannot even think for themselves, this man is not working. The one sitting there, what proper work does he do? As he sits there, how much does NDC or government give him? Don’t they give him free fuel? I don’t get free fuel when I work my heart out saving life to the extent I can, if I am demanding my conditions of service, somebody comes to sit in that studio and say, all kinds of foolish things. They should continue this is the way we want to run this country, let’s run it like that. He should take his propaganda and life into the hospital and work. They should go and work, they should go and work.

Tell him, we would not let him dictate the way we should go. We have decided that we are withdrawing Out Patients department services and that is what we will do. If they want us to descend into the gutters with them, we will descend into the gutters with them. What kind of nonsense is that? This is what we allow them to do and we say we are gentle and we don’t tell them we are foolish people. This foolish man who is in your studio currently, is given fuel, given recharge, for all you know, where he is staying government is paying for his rent. Which doctor is being housed freely by government? We pay rents to the government. I was listening to him, was he not the one who was shouting he is tired of us, we should leave our job and go, is he more Ghanaian than all of us? The taxes I pay are probably higher than what he pays. What kind of nonsense is that? We allow them to come and sit in the studios and they say all kinds of foolish things.

These days those foolish things will not take us to work o. The issue is that, we want conditions of service, the government should sit down with us and then we arrange for our conditions of service, what he is saying will not solve the problem so they should continue. If you are making fair analysis, you should make a fair analysis; you don’t sit there and say you are tired of us. If you had said this is what the doctors are demanding, this is what government is ready to give them, let everybody judge, but you don’t tell anybody like you are tired of us. Doctors in this country worked for 11 months without salary, doctors in this country. Military, how many people worked for 11 months without pay or the Police? They had to occupy Controller and Accountant General before they were paid, so what kind of people are these? When we talk you say we should not.

We have pampered them and they are fooling and fooling, because they can come on air and say all kinds of foolish things. They should go on, they should continue, see, we can respond in equal measure, but sometimes when you go to school and you are taught sense like I have been taught, I don’t do those things, I am sure he didn’t learn anything. They should go on, they should continue. Tell them that we can go down like he has gone down, let them be aware. Tell him that even someone like him is given fuel freely to come and sit in the studio to insult doctors.