Franklin Cudjoe, the President of IMANI Africa, has stated Nurses and Midwives have been pampered for too long.
According to him, successive NDC and NPP governments have been more focused on political point-scoring than on meaningful structural reforms.
He noted the politicisation of allowances for trainee nurses and teachers and labelled it as a short-sighted policy that erodes Ghana’s healthcare and education systems.
Speaking on Channel One TV, Franklin Cudjoe stated, “ “How have we treated nurses even when they are training—we’ve pampered them. Haven’t we?”
“Politically, one party says—John Mahama—that he is not going to pay any nurses’ allowance. The opposition at the time used it against him. And when they came, they started paying and rewarding these entities. I have never understood that game,” he noted.
Franklin Cudjoe warned, “The moment we do these shifty politics and think we can garner votes through these freebies to a section of the population that do not require it, that do not need it, we should not be crying now that they have come back biting at us”.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) has suspended its nationwide strike.
The GRNMA has directed members to resume normal shifts from Saturday 14 June.
The health workers initiated a strike on June 2, 2025, in protest against the government’s failure to implement an agreement signed with the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
The GRNMA grievances include the non-payment of critical allowances, such as responsibility, uniform, and non-basic allowances, which collectively amount to millions of cedis owed over time.
On Friday, June 13, 2025, a statement issued by the leadership of the Association stated the decision to suspend the industrial action was influenced by the pleas of Ghanaians and the intervention of Parliament’s Health Committee.
They described the meeting with the Parliament’s Health Committee on Thursday, June 12 as very fruitful.
The GRNMA in a statement stated, “We are nurses and midwives trained to provide essential health services to the Ghanaian population. Matters affecting us which are brought formally to the attention of the employer must be treated with the urgency it deserves and in good faith”.
“As a result, the GRNMA’s industrial action initiated on 2nd June 2025 is hereby suspended pending the outcome of a follow-up meeting scheduled for 26th June 2025,” they added.