Patients first- a group of graduate healthcare professionals, both employed and unemployed wishes to express our gratitude to President Nana Addo and the government for the introduction of Nation Builders Corps programme as a stop gap measure to reduce unemployment rate in our country.
This clearly shows dedication and commitment to address the high unemployment rate in the country.
Some of us have been unemployed since 2013, and we are still counting on our hopes to get financial clearance for our permanent employment. While waiting for this financial clearance, some of us are doing private jobs like "locum" at some hospitals and we take not more than GHC 700 monthly. Others too are doing voluntary attachment at some of the health facilities, without any monthly stipend, not to talk of SSNIT and Conditions Of Service.
We engage in such works not because we are satisfied with the amount or conditions, *but to bridge the gap of being idle and keeping our skills alive and update our clinical knowledge as we wait for our financial clearance to effect our permanent employment by Ministry Of Health*.
Indeed, some of us reacted negatively to NABCO due to misinformation. But after getting the accurate information and clarifications as indicated below, we fully endorse NABCO, especially the HEAL GHANA MODULE :
▪Nation Builders Corps (NABCO) is not a replacement for our permanent employment by the Ministry Of Health. This means NABCO will not delay or stop our financial clearance.
▪No healthworker, especially Nurses and Midwives will be on NABCO for 3 years as speculated. We will exit NABCO immediately our financial clearance is approved. This means we can be on NABCO for only some months.
▪NABCO is not compulsory, but optional
▪NABCO is for all interested unemployed health workers, and not only for Nurses and Midwives.
▪NABCO will help us get a preferred geographical location to work since applicants will be placed in a preferred district. This will address the accommodation and transportation issues we mostly complain of.
With the above information /clarifications, we encourage our colleague health workers who are interested to apply and join us. This is not different from the "locum" we do at some private hospitals. This is not different from the voluntary health services we provide at some hospitals. This is a temporal situation, as we wait for our permanent employment.
The GHC 700 is indeed not enough, but it is better than the amount some of us are paid monthly for our "locum" while waiting for financial clearance. We all know that even the actual basic salary or Single Spine Salary for our senior colleague health workers who are employed by Ministry Of Health is not satisfactory, but as a country this is what we have so let us manage it and move our country forward.
We would love to use this opportunity to inform Ghanaians to be true citizens like Koreans who sold their jewelleries to ensure the development of their country.
"South Korea has exported the first shipment of 300 kilograms of gold collected in a public campaign to help the country out of its economic crisis. The nationwide campaign - led by large business groups including Daewoo, Samsung and Hyundai - began on January 5, 1998 and involved ordinary Koreans donating personal gold treasures, which have been melted down into ingots ready for sale on the international markets. Kate Liang looks at the phenomenon of public self-sacrifice to save an economy in trouble:
It's an extraordinary sight: South Koreans queuing for hours to donate their best-loved treasures in a gesture of support for their beleaguered economy.
Housewives gave up their wedding rings; athletes donated medals and trophies; many gave away gold "luck" keys, a traditional present on the opening of a new business or a 60th birthday" (BBC)
These Koreans are not different from we Ghanaians. We all have same blood, so our mentality geared towards development and economic growth should be same. We are the government, we are the leaders, let us act as such.
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