The Rotational Nurses and Midwives Association (RNMA) in Ghana has written to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, to call on the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to release the financial clearance to the Ministry of Health for the payment of the eight months’ allowances of its members.
Rotational Nurses and Midwives are newly qualified health professionals who are obliged to a mandatory one-year national service within the various hospitals across the country.
The Rotational Nurses and Midwives number about 10,957 currently.
According to the Association, they have not been paid in the last eight months.
In a letter dated Tuesday, 14 March 2023, addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, the RNMA noted that the National Executive Council of the Association had followed due protocols by serving the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance letters and have made several follow-ups on the letters served.
The Association further noted that both Ministries had failed to address the needs of Rotational Nurses and Midwives.
“We understand we have to undergo certain processes before our payment is done but we are just left with barely ninety (90) days to complete the service and as we speak, none of these processes have begun nationwide. So it means payment is not even due in the next month or two,” the letter indicated.
They stressed that all efforts to get in touch with the Ministry of Health for the past two months have yielded no results.
The association, therefore, pleaded with the Speaker of Parliament, to intervene in the matter.