The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi Esq., has strongly criticized the Akufo-Addo-led government over its failure to address the unemployment crisis facing allied health professionals.
In an impassioned statement, he slammed the government’s inaction, highlighting that five consecutive batches of trained allied health workers have been left jobless, with no clear plan in sight for their absorption into the public health sector.
During his speech, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi emphasized the critical role of allied health professionals in Ghana’s healthcare system, particularly in areas such as disease surveillance and control, which became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Look, this polio matters that he had a press conference yesterday, it is a function of surveillance, disease surveillance and control. COVID is all about surveillance. The people who do that are not doctors, they are not nurses. They are these allied health professionals workers we are talking about.
“So their role in the health sector is very important. And I’m happy you have clarified that we need more. So if we need more, how come 4, or 5 batches are staying home and your government is not doing anything about it and you are giving us flimsy excuses? Nobody is expecting you to absorb all of them but at least absorb some”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq., NDC National Communications
Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi expressed his frustration with the Ministry of Health’s continuous excuses, particularly the claim that financial clearance was required from the Finance Ministry to employ the workers.
He asserted that this was nothing more than a “flimsy excuse,” arguing that funds had been mismanaged on less critical projects, particularly pointing to the National Cathedral project.
“The reason they can’t give financial clearance is that they’ve wasted the money digging a hole in the name of building a Cathedral for God, a hole that has now become the biggest swimming pool in the world”.
Sammy Gyamfi Esq., NDC National Communications
Further adding to his criticism, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi accused the government of misplaced priorities, alleging that funds that could have been used to employ these health professionals had been squandered on wasteful COVID-19 expenditures, which he described as bordering on “plain thievery.”
He cited the Auditor General’s report and recent confessions by NPP parliamentary candidate Felicia Tetteh as evidence of financial mismanagement.
Calls for Change Ahead of 2024 Elections
In his appeal to Ghanaians, the National Democratic Congress National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi Esq. called on the electorate to hold the government accountable for its failures by voting for change in the upcoming December 2024 elections.
“We have 81 days to make an important decision, one that will define your future and that of your children”, he urged. He encouraged citizens not to endorse a government that had been given eight years to transform lives but had “woefully failed to do so.”
The NDC, he assured, had a concrete plan to address the employment challenges faced by allied health professionals and other sectors of the economy.
Citing the party’s 2024 manifesto, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi outlined a three-pronged approach that included a Human Resource (HR) gap analysis, a 24-hour economy, and a migration policy framework.
The HR gap analysis, he explained, was based on international best practices, which revealed significant shortfalls in the number of professionals within critical public institutions, including the health sector.
He promised that the NDC, under the leadership of former President John Dramani Mahama, would fill these gaps to improve the efficiency of public services and create jobs for health workers.
“We have all the data, and we are committed to filling these gaps so citizens can get better services from their government,” Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi assured.
The 24-hour economy, he added, would create three shifts in health and allied health institutions, increasing the demand for workers and providing more employment opportunities.
Additionally, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi announced the NDC’s migration policy, which aims to export surplus Ghanaian labour to countries in need of health professionals, much like Cuba’s model of exporting doctors globally.
“If Cuba can export doctors to Ghana, Ghana can export allied health professionals to countries that need them,” he explained.
In concluding his remarks, Lawyer Sammy Gyamfi urged Ghanaians to vote for a leader who has a proven track record of handling such challenges, referring to former President John Dramani Mahama.
“John Mahama has handled similar challenges before and passed with distinction,” he stated confidently, reminding Ghanaians that the upcoming elections were a chance to vote for a government that genuinely cares about solving the nation’s problems, unlike the incumbent, which has consistently failed to deliver.
He called for an end to what he described as years of corruption and waste, urging Ghanaians to make a decisive change by voting for the NDC and John Dramani Mahama on December 7, 2024.
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