Health Minister Joseph Yieleh Chireh yesterday had a hell of time defending his meeting and interaction with his constituents in the Wa West constituency where he is supposed to be cooling off for his sick leave.

The Health Minister was said to have taken a short leave last week Friday, with Communications Minister Haruna Iddrisu taking over the negotiations with the striking doctors to find solutions to the impasse.

So far, there is no solution in sight as the negotiations between the doctors and government broke down yesterday. More hospitals joined the strike, with doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital ignoring emergency cases to participate fully in the strike.

There appears to be more to the mere explanations being given by government and the minister as to why he did take a leave of absence at the time the nation’s medical doctors had embarked on a sit-down strike, demanding better conditions of service.

A statement issued on Monday said the minister had been granted a leave of absence by the President at a time the nation’s medical doctors were and are still on strike.

This gave room for speculation, with some suggesting that Yieleh Chiereh had either been sacked or he had decided to step down honourably, compelling Information Minister John Akologu Tia to proffer an explanation to the effect that the President granted the Health Minister his request for leave on October 11, 2011, spanning a period of ten days purely on medical grounds.

Later checks however established that the man was rather in the Wa West constituency campaigning in a bid to secure his seat, which is gradually slipping from him.

Many were those who thought the leave of absence was to enable him to seek medical attention but it allegedly turned out to be a campaign trail.

Ghanaians are questioning the commitment and seriousness of not only Mr Yieleh Chiereh but also government’s preparedness to address the doctors’ concern, considering the lives being lost.

But Yieleh Chireh, who could no more bear the heat, was compelled by circumstances to respond to media queries yesterday after refusing to answer his phone for media interviews on Tuesday when he was seen in areas like Dabu, Vieri and Siiru meeting potential party delegates who would vote to determine his fate.

When asked whether or not he was in his constituency campaigning on Joy FM, the Health Minister said his medical leave did not require him to bed-rest and that if it did, his doctors would have advised him to do so.

He said his doctors advised him to do some exercises, the reason for which he decided to travel up north to Wa in the Upper West region to meet and interact with his constituents since he had not visited them for a while.

Mr Yieleh Chireh, who spoke on various radio networks, also sought to rubbish suggestions that the timing of his leave of absence was wrong, saying, “As Ghanaians, let us believe in institutions and not personalities.”

In an attempt to repudiate speculations that he had been sacked or asked to resign honourably, the Health Minister and Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa have given conflicting accounts as to when he is supposed to resume work.

Whilst Yieleh Chireh himself claims he would resume work on Monday, October 24, 2011, Mr Ablakwa was reported to have told Accra-based Citi FM the Health Minister was expected at post on Friday.