Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, has made a direct appeal to striking nurses and midwives, urging them to return to the negotiation table as their industrial action continues to cripple healthcare services nationwide.
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) began their strike on Tuesday, June 4, over what they describe as prolonged delays in implementing the 2024 Collective Agreement. The strike has significantly disrupted operations in over 300 public hospitals and clinics across all 16 regions, with emergency services scaled down and scheduled surgeries indefinitely postponed.
At a joint press briefing with the Minister of Health, Mr. Nyarko Ampem acknowledged the vital contributions of Ghana’s more than 120,000 nurses and midwives but warned that their current demands could destabilize the country’s fiscal framework. He revealed that fulfilling the proposed conditions of service would add more than GH¢2 billion to the national compensation bill.
“Our nurses are very, very critical to healthcare delivery, and we appreciate what they do,” he said. “But we must also be realistic about what the national budget can absorb.”
The Deputy Minister stressed that the government is not ignoring the concerns of healthcare workers, but warned that the size of the financial request poses a serious threat to ongoing efforts to restore economic stability. He noted that the additional GH¢2 billion could account for over 10% of the entire annual health budget or fund multiple key infrastructure projects.
Highlighting Ghana’s commitment under the IMF Extended Credit Facility programme, Mr. Nyarko Ampem reiterated the goal of achieving a 1.5% primary budget surplus to bring the country’s public debt — currently around 75% of GDP — to sustainable levels.
“To reset the economy, we must manage our expenditures carefully. A sharp increase in compensation costs risks undermining our fiscal consolidation targets,” he added.
As a way forward, the government is proposing a phased implementation of the improved conditions of service, spread across multiple budget cycles. This approach, officials say, would allow for a balanced resolution — addressing the legitimate concerns of nurses and midwives while safeguarding the country’s fragile economic recovery.
Story By: Afia Ohenewaa Akyerem