No excuse, use mid-year Budget review to resolve GRNMA strike – Minority to Govt

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, has urged government to use the upcoming mid-year budget review to accommodate the demands of striking nurses and midwives, insisting that the law provides a clear pathway for such fiscal adjustments within the year.

Addressing a minority press conference in Accra on Tuesday, June 10, Dr. Afriyie said government cannot hide behind budgetary constraints to delay action on the grievances of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), who have declared an indefinite nationwide strike.

“The mid-year budget review allows it. The law of this country has no gaps,” he stated. “It takes things like this—that towards the course of the year, when there are developments—you come back to Parliament for another approval. That is why you have the mid-year budget review,” Ayew Afriyie said.

This comes as the nationwide strike intensifies without resolution as GRNMA has flatly rejected government’s proposal to defer implementation of the new conditions of service to 2026.

Early on, the Health Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh warned that fully implementing the demands currently outlined in the conditions of service for nurses and midwives could significantly destabilise Ghana’s economy.

“We wish to draw attention to the fact that the conditions under reference are not captured in the 2025 budget and will completely throw the economy off gear if implemented immediately in the manner it currently exists.”

However, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie has criticised what he described as government’s rigid posture and urged a change in approach to resolve the crisis.

“The posturing of government must change,” he stressed.