Health Ministry to Replace Recruits who Miss August 20 Reporting Deadline
The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has warned newly recruited health professionals posted to various health facilities across the country to report to duty by Thursday, August 20, 2026, or risk losing their appointments.
The Minister said the deadline was necessary to enable the government to fill vacancies created by health professionals who fail to take up their postings and avoid delays in deploying much-needed personnel to health facilities.
Mr Akandoh said the Ministry of Health secured the necessary financial clearance before commencing the recruitment exercise to ensure that newly recruited health professionals would not face delays in receiving their salaries.
He explained that obtaining financial clearance ahead of the recruitment was a deliberate measure to prevent the accumulation of salary arrears, which has been a major concern for health professionals recruited in previous years.
The Minister made the disclosure when members of the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives paid a courtesy call on him.
“I waited till I had financial clearance before we started doing that, and so those who reported early have even gotten their salaries, and so we are not going to pile any arrears this time around,” he said.
Mr Akandoh urged those who had not yet reported to their assigned facilities to do so by the August 20 deadline.
“And those who have not reported, with the greatest of respect, they must report before or on August 20. If you don’t go after the 20th, it means that you will not go and you may forfeit that opportunity,” he warned.
He explained that the Ministry would immediately begin what he described as a “mop-up exercise” to fill positions that remained vacant after the deadline.
“And immediately after that, we will do what we call a mop-up exercise so that those who didn’t accept the postings, we will have to find their replacement,” he added.
The warning means that newly recruited health professionals who fail to report to their assigned duty stations by August 20 could lose the opportunity to take up their appointments.
Mr Akandoh said the Ministry would not allow critical positions in health facilities to remain vacant indefinitely because some recruits had failed to accept their postings.
The deadline is therefore expected to enable the Ministry to determine the number of recruits who have accepted their postings and identify vacancies that may require replacement.
The recruitment exercise forms part of efforts to strengthen the country’s health workforce and ensure that health facilities have adequate personnel to provide essential services.
By securing financial clearance before recruitment, the Ministry also aims to avoid a repeat of situations in which newly recruited health professionals report for duty but remain unpaid for extended periods.
The Minister’s directive is expected to put pressure on recruits who are yet to report to their assigned facilities to meet the August 20 deadline or risk losing their appointments.
