Ex-President Mahama has explained that the dissatisfaction brought on him by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other unions made him adopt the dead goat syndrome.
According to him, the deregulation of petroleum prices whenever it increases was the reason he employed the idiom due to the widespread labour agitations at the time which was intolerable.
Speaking at a Forum held at the Academic City University College, Accra, he clarified that “I am the only government in the Fourth Republic where all organized labour came together and went on strike and shut down the country”.
The former President stated that, “I was one of the most harassed Presidents by Organised Labour. That is what led to the dead goat syndrome… because when you kill a goat, you cannot frighten it with the knife again!… I don’t know why I said that, but of course, our opponents took it out of context. They said I have said that I won’t listen to anybody”.
In 2015, the former President said he was no longer deterred by Ghanaian workers strike and protest threats and would not give in to any of them during the following year’s forthcoming elections.
The President claimed to have a “dead-goat syndrome” and declared he would not be blackmailed by such tactics employed by employees.
“I have seen more demonstrations and strikes in my first two years. I don’t think it can get worse. It is said that when you kill a goat and you frighten it with a knife, it doesn’t fear the knife because it is dead already.
“I have a dead goat syndrome,” he revealed whiles he was in Botswana for a three-day state visit when speaking to the Ghanaian community there.
During Mr. Mahama’s presidency, the nation saw a series of strikes and protests, the majority of which were in opposition to poor working conditions.
One of the many labour unions that took to the streets to protest the escalating economic crisis was the Trades Union Congress.
According to the President, these protests are a part of worker organizations’ plans to constrain the government, particularly during election years.
Mr. Mahama pointed out that the economy and budget are thrown out of balance when governments give in to such threats.
BY Daniel Bampoe