By Godwill Arthur- Mensah/Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA
Accra, Oct.14, GNA–The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority Caucus in Parliament has asked the government to refrain from playing “political gimmicks” with payment of nurses and midwives’ salaries because financial clearance was issued in July 2024.
The Caucus said about 8,000 nurses and midwives who were recruited earlier and deployed to the Teaching Hospitals and Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHRAG) institutions had already been paid, therefore, the remaining 7,000 who were recruited by the Ghana Health Service in December 2024 should also be paid this month since the previous government budgeted for payment of their emolument.
The salaries of the remaining 7,000 nurses and midwives recruited have been delayed for 10 months.
Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Health Committee and Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore, during a press conference at Parliament House in Accra, on Tuesday, said there was no need for Cabinet to approve anything again because financial clearance was issued by the Finance Ministry for payment of their salaries.
“The Minority will not continue to be reasonable when the youth of this country are taken for granted. The youth of this country matter, Ghanaians matter and nurses and midwives also matter. It appears that being reasonable is being taken for granted,” Afriye noted.
“The government created the mess and must fix it now, and pay the nurses and midwives this month,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, the Minority Caucus’s claims contradicted the government’s stance on the matter.
According to the Health Minister, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the government inherited a challenging situation where financial clearance for the nurses and midwives had expired on December 31,2024.
The Health Minister explained that the government chose to retain the nurses and midwives, rather than sending them home, and is working to clear the backlog of unpaid salaries.
The Minority Caucus’s assertion that the previous government budgeted for the remaining 7,000 nurses and midwives might be valid, but the expiration of financial clearance and the current government’s efforts to process payments seem to be the key issues here.
The government’s decision to seek Cabinet approval for the payment of the remaining nurses and midwives might be seen as a necessary step, given the circumstances.
GNA
Kenneth Odeng Adade