Some 27,000
In June, reports indicated that the unemployed nurses have been cleared financially enabling them to start their permanent employment in various public health facilities.
But the unemployed nurses and midwives have denied receiving financial clearance for employment from the finance ministry.
The National Executive Board (NEB) of the Ghana Nurses-Midwives Trainees Association (GNMTA) said they have had a series of engagements with the Ministry of Health to enquire about their financial clearance since 2017 but to no avail.
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In a statement, the leadership of GNMTA said they were assured of financial clearance, since the government planned recruiting over 27,000 nurses and midwives in the 2018 budget.
According to them, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, gave the assurance and stated that the clearance would be ready by mid-July but "we are in August and nothing credible and tangible has happened".
"What is preventing the government of the day from releasing financial clearance for the employment of these nurses and midwives if actually they have been budgeted for?" GNMTA quizzed.
The unemployed nurses and midwives added: "As part of this demonstration, we are calling on our parents, trainee nurses and midwives, rotation nurses and all graduate unemployment nurses and midwives (GRNMA), national, regional and district executives, our senior colleagues (staff, nurses and midwives), sympathisers, opinion leaders and members of the general public to join us in this massive demonstration to register our displeasure as unemployed nurses and midwives to the government due to the manner in which they have pitifully handled the unemployment issues of graduate nurses and midwives, which, in the end, will have adverse effect on society at large.
"Secondly, we shall embark on what we call, ‘One Million Walk’ through the principal streets of the capital, Accra, to the Jubilee House. The group will come out with this One Million Walk to inform the government that since they are not ready to post us, we shall definitely advise ourselves when the right time comes because the false pretence has gotten to its peak and we can no longer bear it."