The government is facilitating the placement of some Ghanaian health professionals in jobs abroad to create space on the public payroll for new recruits. The Health Minister, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, disclosed this in an interview on the recruitment of healthcare workers.
He Stated that four batches of health professionals have been placed abroad since he took office, and the exercise is continuing. The measure forms part of a plan to reduce the backlog of unemployed graduates that has built up over several years.
Hon. Akandoh noted that the government recruits only the number of workers it can pay. He will not authorise recruitment without financial clearance from the Finance Ministry,
He explained that the government inherited about 13,500 nurses and midwives who had been recruited and posted to facilities without financial provision. He had two options, lay them off until funds were found or let them work while the money was sourced, and he chose the second option, he said, 13,500 have now been placed on the payroll. Arrears that had run for five, six and ten months have been paid in full,
“Our main problem has been the fiscal space, so as they go, we can still create more space for others. Since I took office, we have moved about four batches, and we are still moving.”
Health Minister, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
To deal with graduates still at home, the government decided to recruit 16,000 health professionals in two phases. The first phase was approved for 8,000 workers, and recruitment for it has been concluded.
Backlog Spanning Several Years
Between 70 and 80 percent of those recruited were assigned to free primary health care, a government priority. The ministry is awaiting financial clearance for a second phase of 8,000 and will begin recruitment once it is granted. Hon. Akandoh said it is government policy to recruit deliberately into the system almost every year.
“I have not on any platform said we are training more health professionals than we need. But I have said that a country can only recruit what it can pay, and I have said on various platforms that I will not recruit when I do not have financial clearance.”
Health Minister, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The Minister said the backlog covers several graduating classes, the ministry is still clearing the 2021 batch, Graduates from 2022, 2023 and 2024 are at home, and the 2025 batch is doing its rotation, each batch has at least 16,000 graduates.
He attributed the problem to the failure of successive governments to absorb graduates as they finished school. It cannot be solved in one, two or three years, he said, and requires a long-term strategy.
Ghana Labour Exchange Programme
The government has introduced the Ghana Labour Exchange programme to help health professionals secure jobs in other countries. Hon. Akandoh said he recently travelled to sign a memorandum of understanding to facilitate such placements.
He noted that remittances are one of the pillars of the economy. Because the government’s main constraint is fiscal space, he said, each worker who leaves allows another to be recruited at home.
Requests from other countries often specify particular specialities, and some post-basic courses were not being offered in Ghana. Cabinet has approved their introduction, and they began this year. They are oncology nursing, critical care nursing and nephrology nursing.
The Minister said these specialities are in high demand worldwide. They also serve local needs, since the Mahama Cares programme focuses on non-communicable diseases. Graduates can therefore fill gaps at home or serve the international market.
Admissions Outpace Employment
Hon. Akandoh mentioned that the government is struggles to employ between 10,000 and 16,000 nurses a year, yet more than 60,000 students are admitted to health training every year. Nursing admissions alone can reach 34,000 to 35,000 a year, and allied health programmes can admit as many as 30,000.
He also clarified his earlier comments on admission quotas. When in opposition, he criticised the previous government for failing to pay training allowances and allowing arrears to build up. The present government pays allowances promptly, he said, but the system still produces more graduates than it can absorb.
The minister stated plan is to keep placing graduates abroad while recruiting in phases at home, as financial clearance allows, until the backlog is cleared.
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