Members of the Coalition of Unemployed Bonded Diploma Nurses have warned they will march to the seat of government if the Ministry of Health does not give them clearance to be posted to the various health institutions to begin work.
The group, which comprises psychiatric nurses, general nurses, and midwives, is angry over government’s failure to effect clearance for its members’ postings after the completion of their national service in August 2016.
Some members of the coalition who on Monday, 24 April, defied calls from the police and the Deputy Minister of Health, Tina Mensah, to go home, passed the night at the Ministry to press home their demands for immediate posting. Speaking to Class News, they said they would resort to marching to the Flagstaff House if their demands were not met.
“For we as a group, the way we are frustrated, we will not allow anybody to frustrate us [any further]. So if the Ministry won’t listen to us, the father of the nation is there, His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. We will go to the Flagstaff House and let him hear our cry. He will understand our plea and address the issue accordingly. We will march to the Flagstaff House in our numbers to let the President know that we are suffering and we want to be posted,” they said.
The nurses have accused the Minister of Health, Kweku Agyeman-Manu, of acting in bad faith as his promise to get them cleared and posted has yielded no results.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Robert Cudjoe, has appealed to the nurses to be patient as government continues with the processes to get them posted to health facilities across the country.
“We have started the recruitment exercises and some categories of nurses have been issued their appointment letters. Some have reported to their stations and have started work. It’s a process because it’s a huge number and about 11,000 have been cleared. We instructed the various heads of agencies to begin the recruitment process. We are looking at over 7000 health professionals, but this category of nurses’ issue is also on the table and it’s being discussed, so at an appropriate time,” he assured.
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