Is It Worth It Restoring Allowance And Yet Nurses Are Unemployed For Over Five Years?

“All the decisions I have made in my life were regularly plaqued with doubt. It can be challenging to sustain that feeling of hope or the belief that things will turn out for the best. Again and again, I have felt like that boy Dramani, on the bicycle going downhill fast without any brakes and not knowing which way to turn” ( My First Coup D’état page 314)

“President Mahama is inaccessible and INDECISIVE in fighting against corruption because he has surrounded himself with some corrupt officials and that the corruption in the John Mahama administration stings high” Alban Bagbin.

Just recently, the President told Ghanaians that, Ghana will not go to the IMF but within the shortest possible time, the President told the nation that Ghana has no option than to go to the IMF for policy credibility. Again, President Mahama told the workers of Ghana that, ECG will not be privatized but in less than seventy-two hours, the same President told Ghanaians that ECG can work and provide sufficient power only if it’s privatized.

The aforementioned statements made by the President and Alban Bagbin, the Majority Leader in Parliament respectively, have described President Mahama as INDECISIVE and a CONFUSED PERSON..

“The Committee recommended that since we are yet to amend the law to put our nursing and midwifery students on the students loan scheme, we should also put them on the allowance’’ President Mahama.(The Finder Wednesday October 05 2016)

Hitherto, let’s look at what President Mahama said “I had rather lose the election than to restore training allowance”. So what has changed?

These are questions Ghanaians are asking,

• To Aseidu Nketia, it is nonsense for the President to restore the training allowance of nurses. So is it still nonsense for the President to restore the allowance of trainee nurses now that he wants to?
• To Okujeto Ablakwa, the withdrawal of training allowance has increased enrollment. So will the restoration of the Nursing Training allowance decrease enrollment?
• “If you can’t stay in school and be trained as a TEACHER and a NURSE, without student allowance, leave the school. We don’t need your votes. You can vote against us, we don’t care ’’By Aseidu Nketia,NDC’s General Secretary. Are nurses now given allowance because the NDC needs their votes?
• Why was the allowance restoration not stated in the 2016 NDC manifesto if it was their priority?
• According to Okujeto Ablakwa, payment of training allowance by government is not sustainable. Is the restoration of the nurses training allowance now sustainable?
• What is the essence of restoring the nursing training allowance without being employed by government for over five years after completing nursing training?
• But Mister President, you told the world that you will not restore the training allowance even if you lose the 2016 elections. So have you (President Mahama) restored the allowance because you now want to win?
• When will the NDC Government under the auspices of President Mahama employ all nurses who are home for over five years and are unemployed?
• How would a nurse with children survive if he or she is not employed?
• President Mahama after becoming a President in 2012 increased his pay from ¢7,000 to ¢12,000 and back-dated it from 2009 - 2012. So why did the President increase his salary and allowances but rather reduced that of nurses who are now given an allowance of ¢150 for only three month? Why was that of the nurses not back -dated?
• If the previous allowance of nurses was over ¢450 which the President came to cancel, why then does he pay them ¢150 if he wants to restore it? Is it not obvious that the allowance is just a token for election purposes?
• “If the Nursing training students are saying the ¢150 is small so they need an increase, they can decide to take it or leave it. They are even lucky we have given them some. It is not compulsory to give nurses and teachers training allowances; it is not even in the constitution” (Solomon Nkansah NDC National communication director). Is it also in the constitution to have given NDC supporters $300 daily to watch football matches in Brazil? Is this how a government official talks to students who are in distress?

Ghana needs a decisive leader who can take bold decisions that will positively impact and improve the living standards of Ghanaians and not a leader who will take decisions just because he desperately want to win elections.

When Nana Addo and Dr. Bawumia were championing the restoration of the training allowance,

President Mahama and his NDC vehemently stated that it cannot be possible and should be taken with a pinch of salt. What has changed Mister President? You have changed the lives of Trainee Nurses and transformed their lives to UNEMPLOYED NURSES.

“Every candidate can mount a platform and make promise after promise. What is important is not the promise but the CREDIBITY AND TRACK record of the party and the candidate making that promise “(By Fifi kwetey September 26, 2012, myjoyonline.com) Can Ghanaians trust the credibility and track record of President Mahama and the NDC? Arise for change…..CHANGING MAHAMA, TRANSFORMING GHANA.

PAPARAZY ANDREWS ASAMOAH.
0249195426.