The Minority Caucus in Parliament has issued a strong statement condemning what it describes as the government’s deliberate neglect of Ghanaian nurses and midwives, amid a nationwide strike by members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).

The caucus is demanding an urgent action to implement a negotiated 2024 Conditions of Service agreement, accusing the Presidency of prioritizing political spending over essential healthcare obligations.

According to the Minority, the nurses’ strike is not merely about pay but about dignity, fairness, and the basic right of workers to have a voice in shaping their professional benefits.

The statement, signed by Suhum MP, Frank Asiedu Bekoe, Deputy Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Employment, Labour Relations, and Pensions, sharply criticized the government for failing to honour a collective agreement reached with the nurses in May 2024.

Ghana’s nurses and midwives, long regarded as the backbone of the nation’s public health system, have laid down their tools in protest over what they call persistent breaches of their conditions of service.

The strike, which began earlier this month, has seen hospital wards understaffed and patients turned away across several regions.

The Minority insists that these professionals are not seeking new demands but are only asking government to implement what was already agreed upon—an agreement that would ensure decent allowances, career development support, and improved working conditions.

“Our nurses want to be at the bedside providing care, not on picket lines,” the statement said.

Government’s Response

In a controversial turn, the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh recently claimed that the leadership of the nurses’ union had left the country to avoid negotiations—an assertion the Minority described as “reprehensible and irresponsible.”

The statement argues that this is part of a broader pattern where government officials seek to vilify striking workers rather than address their legitimate grievances.

Citing the National Labour Act, the Minority reminded the government that the right to strike is legally protected in Ghana.

“No one should be punished for standing up for better working conditions,” the caucus emphasized.

A Question of Priorities

The most stinging part of the Minority’s criticism was directed at the sharp increase in the Presidency’s own compensation budget—from GHC327 million in 2024 to a staggering GHC2.7 billion in 2025 under the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

They argued that a fraction of that amount could have resolved the nurses’ demands without plunging the country’s healthcare system into crisis.

“This government promised to take care of our nurses and made significant promises to them; it cannot renege now,” the statement read.

“If the government is serious about restoring public confidence in the political system, it must begin by respecting agreements it willingly entered into.”

The Human Cost of Inaction

The ongoing strike is not only an industrial relations issue—it is also a growing public health emergency.

With nurses and midwives off the job, services in maternity wards, emergency departments, and outpatient clinics have been severely disrupted.

Some hospitals have had to refer patients elsewhere, while others have scaled down services drastically.

The Minority is urging immediate dialogue and full implementation of the 2024 agreement to avoid a total collapse of public healthcare delivery.

“Everything in the nurses’ agreement is equally important to the patients they serve, and government must know this,” said Bekoe.

The Way Forward

With healthcare workers increasingly exiting the country for better opportunities abroad, the Minority cautioned that the government’s failure to address these issues could lead to a lasting workforce crisis.

They called on President Mahama and his administration to act swiftly, not only to end the strike but to affirm that essential workers will be respected and prioritized.

The Minority has vowed to continue pushing within Parliament for a resolution and says it stands firmly behind the nurses and midwives “as they fight not just for themselves, but for the quality of care every Ghanaian deserves.”