Members of the 2021 Cohort of Unemployed Nurses Association of Ghana stormed Parliament on Tuesday to demand immediate deployment.
Led by their General Secretary, Gideon Nsiah, the association “ambushed” the Minority Caucus to seek urgent intervention after months of waiting without recruitment from the Ministry of Health.
According to Nsiah, only 6,500 out of the 18,000 nurses who completed their training in the 2021 cohort have been deployed, leaving over 11,000 qualified professionals idle at home.
Speaking to journalists after the engagement, Nsiah highlighted the financial hardship members face, with many remaining unemployed for nearly three years since completing their national service.
He noted that this prolonged delay persists despite widespread staff shortages across Ghanaian health facilities.
Nsiah argued that the government has failed to honour its commitment to automatic postings for trained nurses. With successive cohorts from 2022, 2023 and 2024 also awaiting employment, he warned that the backlog of unemployed healthcare workers continues to swell.
“The rest of us are still home. We have our licenses, we are ready to work, but there are no financial clearances for us,” Nsiah told journalists. “We came to Parliament because we believe our leaders must hear us. We are begging the government, the Ministry of Health, and the Finance Ministry to capture us in the mid-year budget review,” he said.
The group urged President John Mahama’s administration to prioritise healthcare recruitment and release the necessary financial clearances, adding, “We are not asking for too much. We just want to serve Ghana. Post us to work.”
Hon. Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, MP for Effiduase/Asokore and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Health Committee, pledged to intensify advocacy for the remaining 2021 batch during the upcoming mid-year budget review.
Meeting with the association, Afriye criticised the administration’s handling of healthcare recruitment and labelled the three-year delay unacceptable.
He accused the government of raising false expectations with promises of automatic deployment, leaving nurses “in despair,” and claimed the administration’s policy remains unclear.
“That’s not what the NPP used to do. We pick all of them. You don’t post them in batches,” Afriye stated.
“Leaving trained nurses unemployed for nearly three years is unacceptable.”
Thanking the nurses for engaging with Parliament, the MP assured them that the Minority Caucus will continue to pressure the government to release financial clearances for all qualified healthcare workers.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
