Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives are baring their teeth at government over delays in releasing their financial clearance and subsequent permanent posting.
Four years after graduating from nursing and midwifery training colleges throughout the country, the health professionals are yet to be posted to translate the theoretical knowledge they’ve acquired into practice.
With many health workers leaving the shores of Ghana to seek greener pastures, there is an obvious gap and shortage of human resources in the health sector.
Records from the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association indicate that over 6,000 of their members have left between August 2023 and March 2024.
Whilst the country is reeling from this upset, some nurses and midwives who are ready to serve and awaiting posting have not been given financial clearance since 2020.
Fed up with failed promises, the graduate unemployed nurses and midwives staged a demonstration in Kumasi to drum home their concerns.
“We are tired of being home. We are hungry and so we are saying that the government should as soon as possible employ us. If the government can’t employ us, they should let us know so we find another thing doing”, President of the Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association, Ibrahim Haruna said angrily.
Life has been hell for us. We’ve had enough so we are pleading with the government to post us to contribute to the healthcare delivery in the country”, a frustrated unemployed nurse, Adwoa Serwaa indicated.
The group walked from Cultural Centre through some streets of Kumasi to the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council where a petition was presented to the Regional Minister.
The graduate unemployed nurses and midwives plan to continue with their protest until they’re posted.
“From here, we are going to Accra. We will carry our mats and sleep at the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance until our clearance is given to us”, Ibrahim asserted.
