Gov’t Succumb To Threats From Unemployed Private Nurses
Government of Ghana has acceded to threats by some unemployed private nurses who had vowed to hit the streets if government failed to employ them into the mainstream health sector.
Barely 24 hours after the aggrieved nurses held a press conference to relay their grievances, the Ministry of Health (MoH) indicated the jobless nurses would soon be employed.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the MoH said it is in the process of getting financial clearance for the agitating nurses by close of the week.
The group which called itself, Coalition of Unemployed Private Nurses (COUPN) has given the government a 10-day ultimatum to find its members jobs or face a demonstration.
At a presser held on Monday, the group accused the government of gross discrimination in securing its members jobs.
According to the group, some of its members have been home for over six years adding that, several dialogues with the MoH have proven futile.
The spokesperson for the group, Doreen Boateng, told journalists that the president promised not to discriminate against any group of persons but has reneged on his vow proving that government feels nurses trained at private facilities are “irrelevant”.
It could be recalled that President Nana Akufo-Addo in his recent state of the nation address, indicated that financial clearance had been granted for some 22,000 nurses but the irate nurses insist government has excluded them from any employment arrangements.
“There is no plan to recruit privately-trained nurses into the mainstream health sector by the government, as it is being done for state-funded nursing training institutions,” Miss Boateng said.
But the Ministry in response to this urged the nurses to endure a little while as plans were underway to secure financial clearance for them.
“We are working feverishly at their financial clearance…It is not as if the Ministry is discriminating or not doing anything about their situation. All that we are telling them is to exercise patience. We are positive that this week, we will be able to secure financial clearance for them so they should just exercise patience. There is no need for a demonstration,” the ministry’s spokesperson said.
By Grace Ablewor Sogbey
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