As a nurse, and unwavering advocate for the dignity of our profession, I read the official letter from the Upper East Regional Health Directorate (Ref: GHS/UER/CC/M&E/G-45, January 13, 2026) with a heavy heart and a rising sense of alarm. The confirmation of “growing friction and incidents of harassment” between members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) and the Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG) is not just an administrative concern—it is a cancer eating at the very heart of our healthcare delivery system.
The Regional Director, Dr. Braimah Baba Abubakari, is absolutely right to label this development as “deeply concerning.” These acts of intimidation, victimization, and harassment are a profound betrayal of the oath we took. Our patients, the vulnerable mothers, newborns, sick, and dying who depend on us, do not care about our union tags. They care about competent, compassionate, and unified care. When we turn against each other, we directly compromise that care. The Directorate’s warning that this threatens “professional harmony, staff morale, and eventually the quality of service” is a stark understatement of the potential catastrophe. We are already seeing its effects.
I stand firmly with the Directorate’s declaration that such conduct is unacceptable. But a strongly worded memo from the Regional level is not enough. The fact that this has escalated to the point of requiring an official regional communiqué indicates a systemic failure of leadership and conflict resolution mechanisms within the nursing and midwifery fraternity.
Therefore, I vehemently condemn these acts of hostility in the strongest possible terms. There is no room for tribalism within unions in a profession built on empathy and service. This petty conflict diverts energy from our real battles: battling understaffing, inadequate resources, poor working conditions, and burnout. We are fighting each other while the system that strains us all remains unchanged.
I hereby call for immediate and decisive action from the following bodies:
1. The Government of Ghana and the Ministry of Health: This is not merely an “internal union dispute.” It is a threat to public health security in the Upper East Region and a stain on Ghana’s healthcare system. The government must, as a matter of urgency, convene the leadership of GRNMA and UPNMG at the national level, alongside the Regional Health Directorate, to establish a permanent and binding framework for cooperation and conflict resolution. The state has a duty to protect healthcare workers from a hostile work environment of their own making and, more importantly, to protect patients from the fallout.
2. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (N&MC): Where is your voice? Where is your regulatory authority? The Council is the custodian of our professional standards and ethics. Acts of harassment and intimidation among nurses and midwives are unequivocal breaches of professional conduct. The N&MC must issue an immediate statement reinforcing the code of ethics, condemning this behaviour, and making it clear that such actions could have consequences for one’s professional standing. The Council must actively investigate specific complaints and sanction perpetrators to serve as a deterrent. Silence is complicity.
To my colleagues in both GRNMA and UPNMG, I say this: We are NURSES AND MIDWIVES first! Our shared struggles are infinitely greater than our minor differences. Let us channel our passion for advocacy into fighting for better patient outcomes, better working conditions for ALL, and the respect our profession deserves from society, not into tearing each other down.
The patients in Bolgatanga and across the Upper East Region deserve better. Our profession deserves better. Let this memo be the wake-up call that ends this disgrace. Let us return to our wards, clinics, and communities with a spirit of solidarity, not suspicion.
Our hands are meant to heal, not to hurt each other.
Signed,
Adu-Boahen Samuel
A Concerned Nurse & Midwifery Activist For a United Front.
