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Government to halt exodus of health workers – Health Minister
The Ministry of Health (MoH) is putting measures in place to curb the mass migration of health workers into other countries, and its implication for Ghana, says the sector minister, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu.
He said though health worker migration was a global phenomenon, the MoH’s Human Resource Policy Direction aims to strengthen mechanisms for the production, deployment, retention and reintegration of health workforce to meet local and global demands.
Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu made these known when he took his turn at the Meet-the-Press series in Accra on Thursday to provide insight into the progress made by the Ministry in providing good health services.
It is recalled that the General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Dr David Tenkorang-Twum, disclosed that a chunk number of nurses sought clearance from the GRNMA Secretariat to leave the country for greener pastures.
To address this, Mr. Agyeman-Manu said the ministry was working within local and international frameworks for Health workforce deployment and reintegration in addition to close collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to streamline the Migration Policy to address current and future emerging issues.
This, the minister said would ensure financial and brain gain from international deployment of health workforce through mutually beneficial bilateral agreements.
“Government started managing migration in small quantities from Ghana to Barbados. So the new strategy is that, we will engage those who need some of our nurses to see how best we would allow them go and work,” he said.
Speaking on some achievements chalked by the ministry, he said the establishment of a Vaccine Institute in Ghana, represented a significant advancement in regional healthcare, “This initiative stands out as the second institute in West Africa and the sixth across the entire African continent”.
“In August 2023 the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was designated as a Regional Centre of Regulatory Excellence in Vaccines Regulatory Oversight in Africa by African Union Development Agency — New Partnership for Africa’s Development,” he said.
According to him, the designation underscores the FDA’s commitment to strengthening the vaccine regulatory capacity of other regulatory authorities in Africa, adding that the achievement aligns with the President’s agenda to make Ghana a vaccine manufacturing hub for Africa.
Mr Manu said the Drugs Laboratory of the FDA’s Centre for Laboratory Services and Research has achieved WHO-Prequalified Quality Control Laboratory status, ‘the first in the ECOWAS region.
With the attainment of this status, test results issued by this laboratory will be recognized globally, creating opportunities for locally manufactured medicines to access the international market while aiding in the effective facilitation of the African Continental Free Trade Area,’.
Touching on Ghana’s roadmap for attaining universal health coverage by 2030, he said the government was focused on improving access to quality health services and minimising avoidable maternal, adolescent, child mortality and disabilities.
Mr Manu said the mandate of the Ministry is to improve the health status of all people living in Ghana through effective and efficient policy formulation, resource mobilisation, monitoring and evaluation.
He said the vision of the health sector was to have a healthy population for national development and also to contribute to socio-economic development and the development of a local health industry.
This he said could be achieved by promoting health and vitality, through access to quality health for all people living in Ghana.
On the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Minister said the total enrollment stood at 17.2 million annual active members representing 54.5 per cent coverage of the population as against the target of 57 per cent.
Source: Ghanaiantimes.com
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Focus on more pressing issues like Galamsey, not hate speech – Ellen Ama Daaku to Mahama
An aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,Ellen Ama Daaku has advised President John Dramani Mahama to shift his attention from social media hate speech to more urgent national issues such as illegal mining.
Speaking in an interview, she noted that the President’s recent comments about tracking the IP addresses of people who spread hate speech were unnecessary.
According to her, President Mahama must first define what he considers to be hate speech before seeking to punish people for it.
Ms. Daaku argued that the President himself had benefitted from hate speech and social media attacks in the past when he was in opposition.
She said even during his time in government, he described his opponents and their tribesmen in unpalatable terms, which later drew complaints from former President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
She stressed that harsh criticism of leaders on social media should not automatically be considered hate speech, adding that former leaders, including former President Nana Akufo-Addo had all been subjected to it.
“He is only feeling what Nana Akufo-Addo went through for eight years,” she remarked.
While acknowledging the need to regulate misconduct online, Ms. Daaku insisted that going after social media activists should not be a priority.
She noted that many political activists, including herself, had been insulted and attacked online but never called for arrests.
She concluded that President Mahama should focus his energy on solving pressing problems such as galamsey and the economy instead of concentrating on critics on social media.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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Prof Alidu Seidu files nomination for Tamale Central seat
The newly elected parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Tamale Central, Prof Alidu Seidu, has submitted his nomination forms to the Electoral Commission.
As of 10:00 a.m. today, he was the only person who had filed to contest the seat.
Nomination of candidates will close at the end of the day.
Associate Professor and Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu won the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the Tamale Central constituency with a landslide victory.
The elections, supervised by the party’s Elections and IT Directorate in the Northern Region, saw Prof. Seidu poll 840 votes out of the total valid ballots cast.
His closest contender, Lawyer Hanan Gundadow Abdul-Rahaman, secured 536 votes.
The other aspirants could not make significant gains, with Dr. Seidu Fiter obtaining 44 votes, Aliu Abdul-Hamid 23 votes, and the rest recording fewer than 10 votes each.
In all, 1,500 ballots were cast, with 6 ballots rejected and 7 spoilt ballots recorded.
The results were signed and declared by Dr. Arnold Mashud Abukari, NDC Northern Regional Director of Elections and IT.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) held parliamentary primaries in Tamale Central to choose a candidate for the upcoming by-election following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed. Dr. Mohammed, who also served as Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, tragically died in a military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District on August 6, 2025, alongside seven others.
His passing left the Tamale Central seat vacant, as required by Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
The Electoral Commission has scheduled the by-election for September 30, 2025. While the NDC moved quickly to open nominations and vet aspirants, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced it would not contest the seat, citing the need to respect the somber circumstances and promote national unity.
By: Jacob Aggrey
