Unemployed graduate nurses and midwives hit the streets of Tamale

The Northern Region chapter of Graduate Unemployed Nurses and Midwives Association (GUNMA) have hit the streets of Tamale to demand their immediate employment.

They want government to approve clearance for them to be employed.

They number over 75,000 made up of 2020, 2021 and 2022 batches who are yet to be employed.

The group lament, the situation is affecting their livelihood.

Wearing red arm bands and wielding placards with different inscriptions, members of the group marched through the principal streets of Tamale to register their dissatisfaction, primarily with the government over failure to grant financial clearance and secure permanent employment.

The group asserts that qualified nurses and midwives remain unemployed, while the government and its agencies have overlooked them in favour of employing unqualified individuals, such as senior high school graduates, who undergo minimal training to practice in healthcare wards.

Addressing the media to register their dissatisfaction convener of the protest, Sule Mubarik expressed concerns over their neglect.

“Nurses should not do their rotation for close to a year before their allowances are released, nurses should not sit in the house for so many years before they are posted, nurses should not picket before they are posted, and believe it or not, throughout the world, nurses are the backbone of every country.

“We have undergone training at various accredited public universities and training colleges since 2020 and have been home for long and it doesn’t appear they want to employ us anytime soon and we are worried,” he bemoaned.

Ghana’s Unemployment Rate increased to 3.92% in Dec 2023, from the previously reported figure of 3.87% in Dec 2022.

President Akufo-Addo in his latest State of the Nation Address failed to touch on issues of unemployment in the country.

The group have vowed to stage series of demonstrations until their demands are met.