What began as a street protest by unpaid nurses has now spiraled into a national debate after two young women (names not known) — both in uniform — be
What began as a street protest by unpaid nurses has now spiraled into a national debate after two young women (names not known) — both in uniform — became the faces of frustration and resilience in Ghana’s health sector.
Their contrasting comments in an interview have gone viral, sparking conversations far beyond the streets of Accra where they joined thousands of their colleagues to demand 10 months of unpaid salaries.
The incident unfolded on Thursday, October 2, when over 6,500 members of the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives staged a massive demonstration in the capital.
The group, officially posted in December 2024 after receiving financial clearance, has been left in limbo for nearly a year.
While about 7,000 of their colleagues received their first salaries in April 2025, the rest have worked without pay since they reported to their stations.
At the heart of the protest, two voices emerged.
A nurse, who stay at Pantang in white calmly explained the plight of the demonstrators, speaking with restraint despite months of hardship.
She complained bitterly that her rent has expired since August and hasn’t been able to pay as tears dropped from her eyes. She becomes very emotional and begged the President to quickly intervene since she can’t even feed herself.
Another, dressed in green, could not contain her anger and lashed out in raw frustration, condemning the government for presiding over what she described as injustice.
It was the nurse in green who became the subject of heated social media reactions.
Netizens took her on and criticized her for being “disrespectful” in tone, while others rose to her defence, pointing out that it was impossible to dictate how anyone should respond to 10 months of unpaid work.
“Chale, 10 months no salary — you don’t determine how she reacts,” one viral post read. “She did her service too with no payment. Ghana hasn’t been fair to her at all.”
Supporters have since launched an online campaign to identify and support the nurse in green, describing her outburst not as rudeness but as a cry of desperation.
“Until you experience such hardship yourself, it is easy to judge,” one commenter wrote. “Let’s see how anyone would react if even just one cedi of theirs was unfairly withheld.”
The protest itself was a vivid display of the nurses’ frustrations.
Clad in red and black, they carried placards that read “Healthcare Workers Are Not Slaves” and “Pay Us Now.” Convener of the coalition, Stephen Kwadwo Takyiah, accused government agencies of negligence and described the situation as “modern-day slavery.”
He added, “Healthcare professionals cannot continue to save lives when they themselves are struggling to survive.”
At the Ministry of Health, the demonstrators presented their petition to the Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, who acknowledged the crisis and pledged swift action.
“No worker should be engaged without valid financial clearance,” he admitted, blaming the problem partly on the expiration of recruitment clearance in December 2024.
He insisted that government was working with the Finance Ministry to settle the arrears.
The ministry has since explained that while over 7,000 nurses have been paid, about 6,500 remain in arrears due to technical delays.
Similar challenges had affected pharmacists, medical house officers, and rotation nurses in previous years, though those cases were eventually resolved.
For the public, however, the policy details have taken a backseat to the human story — embodied by two young nurses who captured the frustrations of thousands.
The nurse in white has been praised for her composure, while the nurse in green has drawn both criticism and empathy.
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