Nurses Strike: The blood of the lost lives are on you – GRNMA tells gov’t

The Vice President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Samuel Alagkora Akologo, has said the government should be blamed if any lives are lost due to the ongoing strike by nurses and midwives across the country.

His comments came after a critical meeting between the Ministry of Health and the GRNMA ended without any agreement.

On Monday, June 9, the Ministry held an emergency meeting behind closed doors with leaders of the GRNMA and other key health stakeholders to try and resolve the impasse and reach a deal on improved working conditions.

However, the government explained that due to budget constraints, it cannot meet the demands of the nurses and midwives at the moment and suggested pushing the implementation of their conditions of service to 2026.

Speaking on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News after the meeting, Akologo expressed his disappointment and said the government was not taking the welfare of health workers seriously.

He said their decision to strike had now been fully justified, as the government’s actions had confirmed their fears of neglect.

“…Give us the best care and we can also give the best care and service to the people of Ghana. If we should lose a single life because of this agitation, it is the employers who should be held responsible, because what they are saying is that the health of Ghanaians is not important.

“The employers of the health workers are treating us like people who do not even matter. When we started the process, people were lambasting us and saying that we should exercise patience. Today’s meeting has reaffirmed our earlier position that the employers do not intend to implement our conditions of service. We have been vindicated,” he said.

The nationwide strike started after the GRNMA accused the government of delaying the implementation of agreements reached on improved salaries and working conditions.

The Ministry of Health’s failure to secure funds in the 2025 national budget for these agreements has made the situation worse, despite earlier appeals for dialogue.

With no solution yet, the strike continues to affect health services across the country.