News:
May 28, 2026
More than 11,000 trained nurses who have been waiting years for postings took their case to Ghana’s Parliament on Thursday, pleading with the Minority Caucus to force government action.
The 2021 Cohort of Unemployed Nurses Association of Ghana presented a petition to lawmakers, warning that months of silence from the Ministry of Health has pushed many of its members to the brink.
“We have our licenses, we are ready to work, but they claim there are no financial clearances for us,” said Gideon Nsiah, the association’s General Secretary, after the group engaged the Minority leadership.
Out of 18,000 nurses who completed training in the 2021 cohort, only about 6,500 have received postings, Nsiah said. The remaining 11,500 stay home, some having been unemployed for nearly three years since finishing their national service.
“We came to Parliament because we believe our leaders must hear us,” Nsiah told journalists. “We are begging the government, the Ministry of Health, and the Finance Ministry to capture us in the mid-year budget review.”
The association appealed to President John Mahama’s administration to prioritise health sector recruitment and release financial clearance for the entire 2021 batch.
Minority Pledges to Push Case in Budget Review
Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie, MP for Effiduase/Asokore and the Minority’s spokesperson on Health, described the situation as unacceptable after meeting with the nurses.
“That’s not what the NPP used to do. We picked all of them,” Dr Afriyie said, criticising the government’s handling of health sector recruitment. “You don’t post them in batches. Leaving trained nurses unemployed for nearly three years is unacceptable.”
The MP accused the administration of raising expectations with promises of automatic postings after training, only to leave nurses “in despair.” He said the government’s position on the matter remains unclear to both the public and itself.
Dr Afriyie pledged to intensify advocacy for the posting of the entire 2021 batch during the upcoming mid-year budget review.
The nurses, who say they have waited since completing training in 2021, are demanding immediate action to end what they have dubbed “posting wahala.”
Ghanamps.com