Jobless nurses accuse Ministry of Health of engaging in extortion for placements

Expressing discontent, the group criticized both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance for failing to grant financial clearance and secure permanent employment opportunities for qualified nurses and midwives.

Atta Asante, the association's general secretary, urged the Health Ministry in an interview with Citi News to accelerate the nurse assignment procedures.

"Some of us are being ejected from our homes because we are not being able to pay our rent. Some of us are sick. Some of us have different financial burdens. We have done a lot of things, but nobody, nothing is coming out of it.

"Any day, any time you go to the ministries, what they tell you is, go soon, it will come. We don’t know how soon this is coming. What is worse in the matter is, that some of our colleagues are being posted underground. You ask them and they will tell you I had a colleague who took me GH¢5,000, GH¢6,000, GH¢7,000 to get me this posting.

"You get to find out that even in 2022 those who are just about to finish their national service, some of them are in the wards working. Meanwhile, the 2020 batch are still in the house jobless."

Earlier, the jobless nurses issued a stern warning, indicating their intention to escalate their industrial action unless the government responds to their demands.

The group voiced discontent with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance, attributing their dissatisfaction to the absence of financial clearance and permanent employment for more than 75,000 graduate nurses and midwives, which they identify as the underlying issue.