Unposted but Experience Requested: Francis Appiah Openly Letters the Health Minister About the Inequitable Hiring Practices

Francis Appiah, a well-known health advocate and the CEO of Health for Wealth Ghana, has written a strong open letter to Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Minister of Health, expressing his growing concern over the Ministry’s most recent hiring practices, calling them “a national injustice.”

The recent announcement by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Government of Barbados, to hire Allied Health Professionals with at least five (5) years of work experience is the subject of the letter, which has since received a lot of attention.

Mr. Appiah called the decision “uncalled for, unfair, and terribly disappointing,” questioning the reasoning behind it. He brought up the irony that the Ministry now requires years of experience that thousands of qualified allied health professionals were never permitted to obtain, despite the fact that they have been unemployed and unposted for years for no fault of their own.

“How is it possible for the Ministry of Health to require five years of experience from professionals who have not even been on the job for years after finishing their classes? “This irony highlights a significant gap between policy and reality,” he said.

He also denounced what he called a “systemic neglect” of Ghana’s medical workforce, pointing out that the Ministry seems more interested in exporting the country’s highly qualified but underutilised medical personnel than in addressing the understaffing of hospitals and clinics nationwide.

He claims that it is “a moral and administrative failing” for health training schools to keep accepting new students while thousands of graduates are still unemployed. In order to prevent what he called “systematic exploitation,” he urged the Ministry to either freeze admissions or absorb current graduates.

“It is nothing short of benefiting institutions while crushing the hopes of Ghana’s youth to collect fees from students who have no strategy for employment,” he continued.

In closing, Mr Appiah urged the Minister to take immediate action by: 1. Reviewing the Barbados hiring announcement’s five-year experience requirement.
2. Prioritising all unlisted allied health professionals for overseas deployments.
3. Establishing a clear graduate absorption plan is necessary to restore confidence in the Ministry of Health.

He emphasised that the future of Ghana depends on strengthening its healthcare workers rather than marginalising them.

“We ought to perform better for our nation. Our medical personnel are to blame for the improvement. And history will remember those who stood for justice and the nation’s welfare,” he concluded his message.

Mr Francis Appiah is the CEO of Health for Wealth Ghana, the former National President of the Physician Assistant Students Association of Ghana, the Vice President of the National Health Students Association of Ghana, and the CEO of Aya Multimedia Africa and Nayak Company Ltd.

Other stories

• Tension in Dormaa increases as Bawumia subtly criticises Ken Agyapong and Bryan Acheampong.
• The death of former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has been formally confirmed by the presidency.
• Which is healthier, according to dietitians, red onions or white onions?
• ShattaFest 2025: The evening that Shatta Wale demonstrated his dominance over the streets
• Stonebwoy explains why it is unfair to compare him to Shatta Wale in a lyrical battle.