Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye
Dear Minister,
I, Akugri Gadafi Avokbil, former National PRO of the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees Association (GNMTA) and former Vice President of the Zuarungu NTC, write to express my disappointment and concern about the issues affecting nurses and midwives in Ghana.
I recently watched a video of your speech at the Teshie Nursing Training College, where you claimed that your government has performed better in nurse recruitment. Unfortunately, I hold a different opinion, and I will provide facts and figures to prove it.
Before the previous government left office in January 2017, the only unemployed nurses were the 2015 batch, who had been granted financial clearance by the Mahama government in 2016.
However, your government withheld the process and resumed it in 2017, using the same clearance to post them.
Since then, your government has not provided financial clearance for nurses' recruitment until 2018, when an attempt was made to push unemployed nurses into NABCo, which we resisted.
Currently, we have the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 batches of nurses languishing at home unemployed, with only 15,200 clearances released for the 2020 batch a few months before the 2024 elections.
This raises questions about the fate of our junior colleagues who completed in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Furthermore, your government promised to scrap the abated allowance initiative and fully restore our allowances.
However, we are currently paid ¢400 per month, equivalent to $25, which is far less than the abated allowances of ¢150 per month, equivalent to $37.5, instituted by the Mahama government. Moreover, these allowances are in arrears for 20 months, as you are aware.
I urge you to acknowledge these shortcomings and work towards addressing them instead of trying to score political points.
Akugri Gadafi Avokbil
Former GNMTA National PRO
