Members of the Coalition of unpaid nurses and midwives, Ghana, yesterday hit the streets of Accra to press home their demand for the immediate payment of their 10 months’ salary arrears.
The demonstration started from the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park through to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and ended at the Ministry of Health (MoH), where the coalition subsequently presented a petition to the sector Ministers.
Clad in red and black attire, the demonstrators conveyed their messages through placards, some of which had the inscriptions: “Delayed Pay Is Denied Pay”, “Empty Promises, Empty Stomach MoH & MoF, Enough Is Enough”, “We Cannot Survive on Promises, Pay Us Now”, and “Healthcare Runs On Nurses.”
Personnel from the Ghana Police Service were also present to ensure law and order during the demonstration.
Among the demands contained in the petition submitted to the sector Ministers were the provision of a clear timeline for the payment of the salary arrears, explanation on the expiry of financial clearance after recruitment, and the explanation on the payment of some nurses and midwives after financial clearance.
Speaking to the media after the submission of the petition, the convener of the coalition, Mr Stephen Kwadwo Takyiah, noted that about 6,500 nurses and midwives who were recruited through the official portal of the MoH and began work in December last year, were yet to receive their ten months’ pay.
This, Mr Takyiah stated, was after the nurses and midwives had received financial clearance before the assumption of their duties.
He explained that some of the nurses and midwives were struggling to feed themselves and that of their families, and could not afford transportation to their workplace due to their financial constraints.
“We don’t have the money to feed, and we are dying. If we allow two months to come without receiving the salaries, we are going to die,” Mr Takyiah lamented.
“We trust your office that you are going to listen to our pleas,” he added.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Thompson Nyarko Apem, who received the petition on behalf of the Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, promised to convey their grievances to him.
He said that the two sector Ministers were aware of the ordeals the members of the coalition were going through and were working on how to address the issues.
“Issues on health workers who have not been paid, not just you. There are even some doctors and others we are seriously being considered, and you are going to receive your salary,” Mr Apem assured.
The Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, noted that 8,000 out of the 13,500 nurses and midwives who were recruited without any financial provision had been processed and they were receiving salaries.
He indicated that the documents of about 6,500 recruited nurses and midwives were being processed, adding that, “as a Ministry, we will continue to work closely with the MoF until all of you are paid.”
BY EUGENE AMPIAW
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