Ghana’s Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who also doubles as Juaboso Constituency Member of Parliament, has warned of a looming crisis of unemployment brooding in Ghana’s health sector.

Early this month, a group of nurses and midwives, who identify as the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, took to the streets to protest over unpaid salaries for the last 10 months since their posting in December 2024.

The Health Ministry responded to their request, promising to settle all arrears by next month.

Speaking on the challenges facing employment in Ghana’s health sector, Mr Akandoh, during an appearance on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, October 15, revealed that as more health practitioners graduate each year, the unemployment rate within the sector continues to rise.

He said if measures aren’t taken immediately, Ghana could have as many as 180,000 unemployed trained health professionals by the end of 2028.

According to the Minister, the current number of unemployed health workers stands at around 74,000. However, with thousands more graduating each year, the figure is expected to more than double within the next three years.

“By the end of 2026, we will have an additional 23,000. By the end of 2027, we will have an additional 35,000. By the end of 2028, we will have about 47,000. So by the end of 2028, if we don’t employ anybody, this 74,000 is still outstanding — we will have not less than 180,000 trained and they will be at home,” he said.

In light of this, he detailed that the government is working on a recruitment strategy, including collaborations with other international bodies and countries to ship them out in a policy called “managed migration”. Thirteen (13) countries have so far responded; however, most of them prefer to work with specialists.

“So there is a strategy going forward. What we are seeking to do now is that gradually, the government will be employing some of them as we move along,” he said.“We are also looking at what we call managed migration, how we will be able to export some of them. About 13 countries have responded, but the difficulty is that most of these countries that have responded need a specialist,” he added.

He also revealed that Ghana would need not less than GHS6 billion annually to clear the existing backlog of unemployed health professionals.

The comments come amid growing pressure from unemployed nurses and midwives demanding placement, and criticism from the Minority in Parliament over how the government is handling health sector employment.

Ranking Member on the Health Committee speaking during a media engagement, stated that, “there is no need for Cabinet to approve anything. Again, there's no need for this clearance. The government should come and tell the people the truth.”

The Minority accused the government of taking health workers for granted, saying their patience had run out.

They emphasized that financial clearance for 15,000 health workers was already secured under the previous NPP administration in July 2024.

About 8,000 of those workers were paid, and the remaining 7,000 should have been paid as well , especially since they were posted before the December 2024 handover.

However, Mr Akandoh, during his interview with Channel One's Bernard Avle, stated that the previous administration led by Akufo-Addo did not make any budget for the over 13,000 nurses they recruited.

The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, has stated that the salary delays affecting thousands of nurses, teachers, and junior doctors are due to lapses under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, October 8, Dr. Pelpuo blamed the NPP’s poor recruitment practices and fiscal indiscipline for the current plight of nurses and doctors.

“The situation is currently unfair, but it is a culmination of events that took place in the last regime before the current regime took over. People were engaged to work without due process. For you to work and be paid, you need clearance to show that there is money in the account and that your employment has been approved. That didn’t happen in this respect,” he said.

Ghana, in recent times, has witnessed several protests from government employees, specifically, teachers, nurses, and doctors. According to him, the former government handed over a poorly planned budget that didn’t make room to pay nurses, teachers, and doctors.

As such, he called the protesting groups to call for calm as the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration will work to rectify the situation.

“We are taking it up very seriously, and I can assure the nurses, teachers, and junior doctors who are caught up in the process that we are going to respond to them before the end of the year,” he stated.

On Tuesday, September 30, Newly Posted Teachers group, comprising of graduates from Colleges of Education and universities submitted their petition to the Finance Ministry, which calls on the government to clear debts owed them.

The group initially declared their intention to hit the streets over salaries owed them on Tuesday, September 23. However, speaking to Citi News, the group’s Lead Convener, Simon Kofi Nartey, noted that the Ministry of Education and other relevant authorities are yet to respond to their earlier petitions, thus rescheduling the protest to September 30.

Simon Kofi Nartey called on the government to settle their 12 months and 8 months, respectively, within the given ultimatum. According to him, the group will have no option but to hit the streets if the government does not treat their demands with urgency.

“It is rather unfortunate that, as we speak, nothing has been done about the concerns we raised at our press conference. We have no option but to take to the streets to let Ghanaians know what is happening. We have already met with the Greater Accra Regional Police Command and agreed on September 30 for the demonstration,” he said.

Also on October 3, the Junior Doctors’ Association of Ghana (JDA-GH) declared its intention to withdrawn nationwide over unpaid salaries and alleged untreatment from the government.

However, the group made U-turn over its nationwide strike, which was expected to commence on Tuesday, October 6. The decision to suspend the withdrawal of services follows constructive discussions with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other key stakeholders.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the Association’s leadership on Monday, October 6.According to the statement, “After careful consideration and following assurances from the Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders, the Association has decided to suspend its planned industrial action to allow for the full implementation of the agreed resolutions”.