Mr Samuel Alagkora Akolgo, the First Vice President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) says the desire by some members of trade unions to lead is one of the ugly monsters that affect leadership in the country.
“Some people just want to be leaders, over their died body will somebody lead them, and so where the opportunity of becoming leaders is very slim, they break away and form their own groups. So the desire to lead is one of the ugly monsters creating havoc on unions all over the world.” he said.
According to the First Vice President, the attitude of some union members who wanted to be leaders by all means, led to many divisions, and affected union strengths worldwide.
Mr Akolgo was speaking as the guest of honour on the theme: “The division and emergence of other trade unions in nursing profession: Potential implications for the future,” at the general meeting of the Builsa North Municipal chapter of the GRNMA in Sandema.
He said people who desired to lead by all means, were not proper leaders, stressing “Those kinds of people are not leaders. The Psychologists call them inadequate psychopaths. They are not genuine internally.”
The First Vice President told members of the Association in the Municipality that such people “Speak the sweetest and well coordinated language that you can get,” and cautioned members of the GRNMA to be wary of people who had broken away from the GRNMA and formed the own Associations.
He chronicled the history of what led to the divisions within the nursing and midwifery professions, and blamed the divisions on possible lack of understanding of unionism among members.
“We have instances where collectively we take a decision, and leadership at certain levels are not able to explain to members the reasons certain decisions were taken, even though it was aware of other options,” Mr Akolgo, who is also the Upper East Regional Chief Anaesthetist, said.
He said if members of unions were not given accurate explanation and information on decisions by their leaders, they were likely to be fragmentations among unions, and advised GRNMA leaders in the Municipality to be abreast with issues of the Association.
Mr Kombian Bisianin, the Upper East Regional First Vice Chairman of the GRNMA, in his address, called for togetherness and unity to improve the Association in the Municipality and across the country.
He urged members to propagate the good message of the Association, especially to the newly posted nurses and midwives to enable them join the GRNMA, which he said was the mother Association for all professional nurses and midwives in Ghana.
Madam Juliana Anam-erime Akugri, the Builsa North Municipal Health Director who chaired the meeting, admonished members of the GRNMA to exhibit professionalism and good behaviour towards their patients and clients in the Municipality.
Ms Zenabu Zimi, the District Chairperson of the GRNMA, on her part, noted that sub-district visitations were not enough to engage more members of the Association, and added that the meeting offered them the opportunity to meet most members to discuss issues of the GRNMA.
She reminded members that the GRNMA was the official mouthpiece for nurses and midwives in Ghana, saying that leadership in the Municipality took advantage of the Builsa Community Radio station to educate residents on some common medical conditions.
The Chairperson also appealed to national leadership of the GRNMA to assist the Association in the Municipality with motorbikes to facilitate official duties in the Municipality.
