GUNMA gives Finance Ministry one-month ultimatum to address postings concern

The Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association (GUNMA) has given the Ministry of Finance a one-month ultimatum to address their unemployment challenges and other concerns.

For some time now, the health workers have been agitating for the payment of their allowances from both the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Health.

This clearance is a critical step in securing permanent employment for qualified graduates.

In an interview, GUNMA’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Sarah Mensah, expressed optimism that the government will address their concerns within the stipulated timeframe.

“We moved to the Ministry of Finance, where we also met some officials, including their Public Relations Officer and we had a meeting with them for over forty minutes,” Sarah said.

“We came to the conclusion that we are giving them a one-month period of time to look into our issue and then give us the appropriate response we are waiting for, and so as it stands, we are hoping that within this one month or before the one month they will call us and give us the information or the response we are expecting from them or better still, give us our employment,” she added in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Asaase Radio.

The PRO also revealed that although Parliament is in recess, they submitted a petition to the House after which they were assured by officials that the Speaker would be notified of their concern.

The officials in Parliament also assured them that their concerns would be addressed in due course.

“We went to Parliament House to look for the Honourable Speaker but unfortunately, Parliament is on recess, the officials who received our petition have promised that they will relay our information to the Honourable Speaker and we will get the feedback from them as well”.

READ ALSO: We’re Working To Ensure Recruitment Of Unemployed Nurses – MoH

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has assured the unemployed nurses that measures have been taken to ensure they are recruited.

The ministry has also promised that nurses will be paid their allowances in due course of time.

The Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Health, Isaac Offei Baah addressing the media on the concerns being raised by the Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association(GUNMA) emphasized that the government is committed to meeting the demands of the health workers.

“Unfortunately, we have gotten to this level, but we are all aware that we cannot employ without clearance from the Ministry of Finance. That also doesn’t mean that we are not working to ensure that we get adequate clearance and clear all our nurses who are not employed.

“We have enough evidence to show that after we received the list from N&MC, we forwarded it to the Minister of Finance. Their leader, who always comes to negotiate on their behalf, can attest to the fact that we have given him copies of evidence to show that the Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring their recruitment and ensuring their posting” he added.