Ghanaian medical graduates stranded in Cuba have appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene and facilitate their immediate return to Ghana.
The graduates say their prolonged stay in Cuba, nearly two months after completing their studies, is creating financial difficulties and delaying their plans to begin the next stage of their professional training.
The president of the recently graduated Ghanaian doctors in Cuba, Raphael Oteng Boakye, said the group completed their studies on July 22 but has yet to receive a confirmed date for their departure.
Speaking on Citi News Digest on Saturday, September 19, Mr Oteng Boakye said the graduates were initially scheduled to leave Cuba on August 28, but several subsequent departure dates were postponed.
He said the dates of September 3 or 4, September 7, September 9 and September 15 or 17 were also given but none materialised.
According to him, the uncertainty has left the graduates unsure about when they will return to Ghana.
“Our immediate demand is that the President steps in and commands or demands that we be brought home as soon as possible because we know it’s possible,” he said.
Mr Oteng Boakye said the delay could affect the graduates’ plans to integrate into Ghana’s health system.
He explained that upon returning to Ghana, the graduates are required to undertake a six-month clinical attachment before sitting the medical licensing examination.
He said the graduates are eager to return home to begin the attachment and proceed with the licensing process.
“We are eager to return home as soon as possible to undergo our attachments and eventually sit for our licensure exam,” he said.
The graduates also say they are facing financial difficulties due to unpaid stipends and allowances.
Mr Oteng Boakye claimed that six months of stipends were outstanding, with the students having been informed that funding for four of those months had been made available but had not yet been paid.
He further alleged that a $360 annual book allowance had not been paid to the students for five years.
The graduates are also appealing for government support to cover the cost of their first attempt at the medical licensing examination in Ghana.
According to Mr Oteng Boakye, the prolonged stay has also created other difficulties for the graduates.
He said some of them were struggling to access healthcare after their health insurance expired.
He also cited the expiry of their student identification cards on August 31, as well as reported challenges with electricity and water at their residences.
The graduates have engaged officials of the Ghana Scholarship Authority and Ghana’s diplomatic mission in Cuba over the situation.
However, Mr Oteng Boakye said those engagements had not yet produced a confirmed departure date.
“We are always being told stories time and time again. So right now we don’t even know what to believe again,” he said.
The graduates are therefore calling on the government to facilitate their return to Ghana, settle outstanding stipends and allowances, and support them with the cost of their first medical licensing examination.
Mr Oteng Boakye said the uncertainty was taking a toll on the graduates and appealed for urgent action to bring them home.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
SOURCE: citinews
