Strike action must give way to dialogue
The Ghanaian Times has decided to devote today’s editorial to the ongoing industrial action which has engulfed the country over the past week, bringing healthcare delivery dangerously close to collapse.
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) embarked on a strike on June 2, 2025, demanding the full implementation of conditions agreed upon in a recent collective bargaining agreement with the government.
Initially, their withdrawal of services affected only Outpatient Departments (OPDs), but by Monday, June 9, 2025, the strike was escalated to include all nursing services, crippling healthcare delivery across the country.
We have chosen to highlight this matter because of the central role healthcare plays in national development. As the popular saying goes, “A healthy nation is a wealthy nation”, in other words, the well-being of citizens directly impacts economic progress.
The Ghanaian Times is deeply concerned that despite the dire implications of the strike, no resolution has yet been reached.
As reported elsewhere in this paper, public hospitals and health institutions are turning patients away. Nearly all public healthcare facilities have been affected, leaving countless patients stranded and helpless.
Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), KNUST Hospital, and Manhyia Government Hospital in Kumasi are among those no longer offering services.
This alarming situation is echoed across the country.
Despite appeals by the Minister of Health, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Professor Samuel Kaba Akuyirea, the striking nurses have not returned to work.
Even an injunction obtained from the High Court by the National Labour Commission has not yielded any progress, with the GRNMA leadership claiming they have not received formal notice of it.
The Ghanaian Times wishes to make a heartfelt appeal to both parties—the government and GRNMA, to return to the negotiation table in good faith, so healthcare services can resume without delay.
We do not claim the authority to declare who is right or wrong. However, we firmly believe that dialogue, built on trust and mutual respect, remains the most reliable path toward a peaceful resolution.
If this strike continues, it will only worsen an already fragile healthcare system. While residents of urban centres and the well-to-do may be able to seek care at private facilities, those in rural and underserved communities, and the vulnerable and poor, will suffer most.
As the Health Minister rightly put it, “Lives lost cannot be replaced”—a sobering reminder of what is truly at stake. Encouragingly, the GRNMA has expressed openness to negotiation.
This, we believe, is a valuable opportunity that should not be wasted.
Let us remember the wise African proverb: “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
In other words, the consequences of conflict are often borne by innocent bystanders.
We, therefore, urge both parties to avoid hardened positions and pursue dialogue in the interest of the public good.
