The National Association of Registered Midwives Ghana (NARM-GH) has strongly disapproved the ongoing nationwide strike initiated by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), citing their exclusion from key negotiations on the issue.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues on June 8, 2025, NARM-GH President, Letitia Asaba Atiah said the association does not support the strike action and had not sanctioned the participation of its members.
She explained that NARM-GH was removed from the GRNMA’s group without consultation, a decision she described as both unlawful and undemocratic.
“We are not in support of the strike because the due process was not followed. Our association was removed from the mother group’s (GRNMA) communication platform without consultation, a move which is undemocratic,” she stated.
She noted that, the mother group have been negotiating on their behalf because they do no independent have the bargaining certificate to make decisions by themselves.
“They [GRNMA] cannot legally do that. Nurses should not bargain for midwives. That is why we need an independent bargaining certificate to fight for our own interests,” she said.
Atiah noted that her association had not yet met with the finance minister to discuss their concerns, a step she believes should have preceded the strike action.
“We think that we should go back and negotiate. We had earlier converged in anticipation for the meeting. After hours of waiting, I decided to go upstairs to enquire why the meeting had unduly delayed.
“Then I met one of the officials who told me that the GRMNA were already meeting the minister because they have said that they will not sit around the negotiation table with us,” she lamented.
She indicated that the minister later met them separately and when they inquire why he met the GRMNA earlier, he confirmed what the other official had told her initially.
Unhappy with the development, the NARM-GH president, decried the lack of an independent bargaining certificate.
She believes it limits the association’s ability to make autonomous decisions, including whether to participate in industrial actions or not.
“If we had our own bargaining certificate, we would not all be on strike. We could’ve still been working while the nurses are on strike,” she stated.
She also raised broader concerns about healthcare delivery in Ghana, particularly gaps in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Atiah pointed out that while some nurses benefit from insurance under the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), many essential services and medications remain uncovered by the NHIS.
Underscoring the critical role midwives play in the healthcare system, Atiah stressed the need for greater recognition and autonomy.
“Midwives shouldn’t be under nurses or taken for granted. We attend to more than one life at any given time, mother and baby(ies),” she said.
The GRNMA-led strike, which began on June 2, 2025, has disrupted services across several health facilities nationwide.
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