Hon. Nana Ayew Afriye, Member of Parliament for Effiduase/Asokore and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Health Committee, has lamented the ploughing suffering of cocoa farmers and the alarming rate of unemployed health workers in Ghana.
Speaking in Parliament during the debate on the 2026 State of the Nation Address, Afriye expressed disappointment with the government’s handling of the sector.
“Cocoa farmers are struggling, and their children are not being employed,” Afriye stated, emphasising his own heritage as a descendant of a great cocoa farmer.
He highlighted that many nurses, pharmacists, and allied health workers, including those from cocoa-farming families, are among the over 103,000 trained health workers still awaiting placements, employment, or enrolment on the payroll as of January 2025.
Afriye criticised the government for not making budget allocations to employ nurses and allied health workers for 2025 and 2026, despite inheriting a clearance of 15,400 positions from the previous NPP government. He warned that the backlog of unemployed health workers will continue to grow, with 20,000 new nurses produced annually, and questioned the country’s future prospects.
“Where are we going as a country? We are putting pains in the hearts of the Ghanaian nurses,” Afriye lamented. He urged the government to address the issue, emphasising that there is “no future, no hope for this youth” if the trend continues.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
