Nurses picket Health Ministry

Graduate nurses numbering over 200 have staged a protest at the Ministry of Health to demand the lifting of the ban on the recruitment of graduate nurses.

The aggrieved nurses who were at the Ministry by 9am, were clad in red armbands and red gear as they demanded action on their recruitment.

According to Class FM’s Mercy Obeng Akrofi who visited the scene, some of the nurses complained that they had been home for more than two years.

She reported that the police were deployed to the scene to dismiss the nurses for violating the Public Order Act given they did not inform the police prior to the protest.

But the angry nurses insisted that they were not there to destroy any property as they were purely pursuing a labour issue with the Health Ministry.

It will be recalled that the Government of Ghana suspended the recruitment of health professionals into the various health facilities in the country.

A letter written by the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu, and directed to all agencies under the Ministry said: “I (minister) refer to our earlier letter with reference number HRHD/DIR/01/17/07 dated 31st January, 2017. I wish to request that you suspend all recruitment activities for the 8,634 nurses and other health staff until further notice.

“The suspension is not a cancellation but to allow the Ministry of Health to finalise all issues related to financial clearance. Kindly take steps to inform all your officers accordingly. You will be duly informed as soon as the final clearance is granted.”

The ministry is yet to review the directive.