- The decision to recruit 15,000 nurses and midwives is purely political.
- The NPP uses this election strategy to frustrate health graduates for four years before tricking them into voting as the elections approach.
The biggest minority in Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has reacted to the announcement by the NPP-led government to recruit over 15,000 nurses just four months before the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, will, from August 5th, 2024, start recruiting 15,200 nurses and midwives, according to the Ministry of Health, which received financial clearance from the Finance Ministry.
The NDC said in a press conference in Parliament that the move is purely political. The NDC stated that the NPP government is merely using this move as an electioneering tactic to mislead graduate nurses, who have endured nearly four years without employment due to the same government’s denial.
The party is now posting the nurses, some of whom have been unemployed for more than four years, so that the party can win reelection.
They added that, should the government be elected into power, they will work another four-year election cycle and only recruit nurses when elections are due. The NDC accused the government of opening recruitment portals into the Ghana Health Service solely to secure votes when they did not deserve them.
READ: Unemployed Nurses Accuse MoH of Extortion for Postings
They cited similar actions during President Akufo Addo’s first term, when he recruited nurses from November 4th to 15th, 2020, just weeks before the general election. They added that health graduates have suffered a similar faith four years after the last recruitment, which has resulted in a poor health care delivery system in the country. This, they said, led to high brain drain in the health service.
The NDC added that the government’s poor management of the health service and the non-recruitment of workers into the health service on time led to a reduction of health workers in active service from 251,527 in 2021 to a low of 182,233 in 2023.
READ: NSS Release PIN Codes For The Enrolment Of Newly-Trained Nurses And Midwives
Decision to recruit 15,000 nurses and midwives purely political – Minority (PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO)
Decision to recruit 15,000 nurses and midwives purely political – Minority#UTVNews pic.twitter.com/GNixmQGzpL
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) July 29, 2024
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