Over 200 unemployed graduate nurses who were picketing at the Health Ministry, Monday, were sacked by Police personnel for not addressing their challenge through the right procedure.
The nurses besieged the Health Ministry to demand posting and threatened to pass the night there if their concerns were not addressed.
According to them, they had made several appeals to the Ministry for employment after they completed school in 2016, but their pleas have still not been addressed.
The Accra Regional Operations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Kwesi Fori, explained that the means through which the nurses are using to present their case contradicts with the Public Order law, and as such, the Police will make sure they prevent them from sleeping at the ministry.
“I have spoken to them about the Public Order law. I have spoken to them that in a democracy you cannot misconduct yourself – that borders on public decency. The Police are taking this decision within the ambit of the law so they should go home and use proper procedural means to address their situation.
“We cannot allow them to sleep here and if they engage in acts of lawlessness, we will use every appropriate means of democratic policing to get them out of here.â€
However, the nurses disagreed with the directive of the Police, saying that they, together with the health ministry are being insensitive to their concerns.
Meanwhile, the health ministry has attributed government’s inability to post them to inadequate funds.
Deputy Health Minister, Tina Mensah earlier stated that the nurses will be posted as soon as they get clearance from the Finance Ministry.
“We never had the clearance. When there is clearance in payment then you have to introduce the people, alert them and push them to do whatever they have to do. When the money is available you can clear them.â€