The nurses ad midwives during the demonstration
About 10,000 members of the Ghana Nurse-Midwife Trainees’ Association (GNMTA) yesterday poured out onto the streets of Accra in show of their disappointment at government for refusing to pay their allowance which was halted two years ago and employ qualified nurses.
The nurses who tied red bands on their wrists and heads, with some around their arms, marched through the streets of the capital city, starting from the Obra Spot at Circle and ending at the Hearts Park where they presented their petition to government.
Some of them held placards with inscriptions such as ‘Mr President, just the allawa’, ‘Sir Mahama, where is our paper, we deserve better’, ‘A hungry nurse will snatch Mahama from his wife’ and ‘No allawa, no vote’, among others, which were meant to send a strong message to government.
The protesting nurses and midwives had one message; that government (National Democratic Congress) risked losing their votes if it does not show any commitment to addressing the issues.
“The government has refused to give us our allowances which I will say is our right. We need to get these allowances. Me and my colleagues, we have decided that in the 2016 elections, we are not going to vote. It is very painful for us to work without getting anything,” a nurse student lamented during the demonstration.
The Petition
Presenting the petition to government on behalf of GNMTA, Godwin Asabire Akazee, national president of the association, he disclosed that “we want our long overdue demands met, so we will not be forced to take money from table tops as it happened in 2012 before the general parliamentary and presidential elections.”
Mr Akazee added, “We want the government to show its commitment by paying trainee nurses and midwives allowances and employing all qualified and ethically prepared nurses and midwives.”
Government after protest over the withdrawal of nurses allowance a few weeks ago said it had introduced an abated allowance of GH¢150 each to the nursing students, however, they were yet to receive their funds, urging the Minister of Health, Alex Segbefia, to hasten the process while they lobby for an increment to GH¢1,300 or GH¢1,350.
The petition, signed by all the national executives, stated that although the nurses were relieved that the Health Ministry had stepped in to resolve the exorbitant fees (GH¢1, 500-GH¢13, 500) being slapped on new students, charges for clinical service were still too high.
According to them, trainee nurses and midwives are required to pay moneys ranging for GH¢150 to GH¢1,100 in the name of clinical charges before they are allowed to undertake their mandatory clinical experience, with some hospitals going further to demand consumables from students.
“We want to state that we might not be able to provide such consumables and pay such moneys since we render our services to the nation,” he said.
He also indicated that it was unfortunate for nurses to pass a licensing examination, register with a regulatory agency, serve the nation for a year and then be abandoned by the state. The group asked the government to break the bureaucratic process for financial clearance and post professionally trained and ethically prepared nurses who graduated from Nkawkwaw NTC and Bolga Midwifery School in 2014 but are still at home jobless.
“The case is not different as enrolled community health nurses who completed their course of training in 2015 are in the same shoes,” he said.
Mr Akazee, thus, called on government, especially Ministries of Health and Finance, to, as a matter of urgency, attend to their concerns so they can focus on their core mandate which is to work.
Government Response
Christopher Beyere, Chief Executive Officer of the Health Training Institutions Secretariat, who received the petition on behalf of government from the national president, said the Ministry of Health was aware of their plight and was taking the necessary steps to make their training and life after school more comfortable.
He said the petition would be given to Mr Segbefia, who would ensure the ongoing measures being put in place are fast-tracked to meet their demands.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri