EDITORIAL: Nurses Deserve Better: Pay the Rotational Allowances Now

The health of a nation is only as strong as the dedication and wellbeing of those who serve within its healthcare system.
In recent months, the cries of Ghana’s rotational nurses and midwives have grown louder and more desperate and rightfully so. For eleven long months, these young professionals have labored without pay, offering life-saving services in hospitals and clinics across the country while enduring unspeakable hardship.
It is unconscionable that a critical segment of our health workforce one already stretched thin by logistical constraints and human resource shortages is being left to fend for itself.
These are not volunteers. They are trained professionals, serving their country through mandatory national service, with the clear expectation of monthly allowances promised by the state. Yet, their pockets remain empty and their spirits broken.
The Ministry of Health and the previous administration may have passed the buck, but the current government under President John Dramani Mahama must act with urgency.
Eleven months of unpaid labor is not merely an administrative oversight it is a gross failure of governance, one that erodes trust, undermines morale, and endangers the very future of healthcare in Ghana.
How can we expect our nurses to care for patients when they cannot afford basic transportation to work?
How can we ask them to show compassion when their own stomachs are empty?
We on CURRENT ISSUES think this is deeply troubling to hear that some of these nurses are now being abandoned by their own families, not out of lack of love, but out of sheer exhaustion from trying to support them.
Let it be clear: this is not just a budgetary issue. It is a moral one.
The Rotational Nurses and Midwives Association has exhausted diplomatic channels.
They have appealed, engaged, and waited. But patience, like their resources, has run out. If the government fails to respond, the nation risks not just losing these young professionals to disillusionment or migration, but also setting a dangerous precedent for how we treat our caregivers.
President Mahama and Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh must prioritize this issue immediately.
We call on Parliament, civil society, and all well-meaning Ghanaians to add their voices to this cause.
The message is simple: pay them what they are owed. Not next month. Not next week. Now.
Our nurses and midwives have given us their best, it’s time the nation did the same.