An open letter to the President from a trainee nurse

The President of Ghana
Flag Staff House
Accra, Ghana.

Dear Mr. President,

I trust that this letter will meet you in good health.

As biblical Joseph, Moses and David were chosen by God to liberate his chosen people (the Israelites) from hunger, from the slavery in the land of Egypt and from tyranny and dominion of the Philistines, so have you, President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, been selected by God to rescue Ghanaians from poverty, intimidation and purposeful denigration.

Mr President, with your antecedent and pedigree we believe you can do better to rescue us from the struggle we find ourselves in as student nurses especially we in the third year.

Mr President before we touch on the challenges, permit us to remind you of your statements prior to the 2016 general election.

You gave us hope by promising us allowance, immediate employment and better conditions of service which obviously was one of the topmost priorities in your campaign message. But as it stands now the odour has changed.

Mr President, respectfully we ask; what went wrong?

Your Excellency, I believe you diagnosed us very accurately before you came out with treatment regiment.

On 27 October, 2016 during your campaign tour of the Volta Region, you assured trainee nurses in Kete Karachi NMTC that, “our decision to restore trainees allowance which is in the NPP manifesto is not negotiable if you come into power”.

This assurance was given to the level 100, 200 and 300 who will soon leave school in some few weeks without discrimination. But surprisingly you have turned to discriminate against the same people who received this assurance (third years).

The information to the best of my knowledge is that, third years will not benefit from the said restoration. I demand to know Mr President very respectfully the reason for this unexpected move. Mr. President, not even a compensation to cushion us with our debts?.

Again, Mr President, I don’t take pleasure in comparing trainee nurses with trainee teachers but am left with no option.

After the general election in 2016, the trainee teachers still had the blessings from you to receive their feeding grants that was instituted by the previous government.

The abated allowance instituted by this same previous government for trainee nurses after the elections became a mirage. Are the trainee nurses not privileged enough to receive your blessings in that regard? Mr President this is unfair.

Further more Mr President, what seems to be a celebration in your campaign message has unfortunately become an issue of grief when we open the chapter of your government’s intention to revoke the bonding system which differs not from what the previous government wished to have done.

In your campaign you told us that the then government was trying to render us harmless by proposing that wicked policy so that they can weaken our bargaining power. Mr President have you suddenly become a wicked president?.

How long are the trainee nurses going to be reassured. From grapevine you’re assuring us of immediate employment after our one-year long rotation.

Without any blueprint do you expect us to believe you? Your Excellency no.

Finally your Excellency, this letter purposely is to inform about the challenges and disappointment the soon to complete third-year RGN and already completed NAC/NAP students are going through. We want you to know the suffocation we and our parents are going through because of the pressure from our creditors.

What we simply seeking for is a compensation and immediate employment after our rotation, but please we plead that the assurance with regards to immediate employment should be done with a written document to serve as evidence base.

Yours Respectfully
Jonah Tagnuntiba Tikonimbe
A student nurse.
Email: [email protected]