Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Mr. Kofi Asare, has raised serious concerns about the government’s failure to pay thousands of nurses and doctors who have been working without salaries for nearly 10 months.
Mr. Asare questioned how the healthcare system could function effectively when its frontline workers were themselves struggling for survival due to the lack of payment.
“It is dangerous NOT to pay some nurses & doctors for 10 months. How can they save lives when they themselves are dying? We can’t normalise this! Ministry of Finance, Ghana”
Mr. Kofi Asare, Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch
The concerns by Mr. Asare followed a protest held in Accra by the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, to demand the release of salaries for close to 7,000 health workers who were posted after receiving financial clearance in December 2024.
According to the Coalition, while about 6,500 of their colleagues were paid in April 2025, thousands continue to work without salaries despite repeated appeals to the government. Members of the group carried placards calling for urgent redress, warning that their patience was running out after months of unpaid service.
The protest, which drew wide public sympathy, highlighted growing frustrations within the health sector as demonstrators stressed that they had been fulfilling their duties diligently, saving lives across hospitals and clinics, yet remained uncompensated for almost a year.
Deputy Finance Minister, Hon. Thomas Ampem Nyarko, responded to the grievances by assuring the group that their concerns would be addressed.
According to him, the Ministry was aware of the plight of the nurses and midwives and was working to ensure that resources were allocated in the next fiscal presentation to clear the arrears. While the pledge offered some relief, members of the Coalition expressed doubts given the repeated promises they said had not been honoured in the past.
These doubts were echoed by the concerns raised by Mr. Asare as he challenged the government to act swiftly on behalf of all the affected healthcare workers in the country.
IERPP on Budget Priorities
The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) added its voice to the debate, arguing that the government had no justification for failing to pay the affected health workers. The think tank pointed to allocations in the 2025 budget as evidence that resources were still available
A Fellow of the Institute, Dr. Frank Bannor, compared allocations between the current government and the previous administration, arguing that the priorities of the state were misplaced.
“The NDC government allotted a whopping GhS 3.82 billion to the Presidency (Office of Government machinery) in the 2025 budget, an increase of about 105% compared to the Ghc1.86 billion same time in 2024 under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
“The figures only show the priorities and interests of the Mahama-led government! There’s money in the treasury. Pay the nurses and junior doctors”
Dr. Frank Bannor, Fellow of the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy
He further stressed that the room to address the salary arrears must be utilised immediately and effectively by the government to end the plight of the nurses and midwives, before their conditions worsen and things get out of hand.
The unpaid salaries issue has deepened concerns over morale within the health sector, with many fearing that continued neglect could lead to strikes or mass resignations. Health workers have argued that without timely remuneration, their ability to serve patients effectively is compromised.
Observers have also warned that the government’s credibility on labour relations could be eroded if the situation is not resolved swiftly. The health sector, which forms a critical part of Ghana’s social infrastructure, has already been battling challenges of inadequate logistics and staffing gaps, making the timely payment of personnel even more vital.
As the government prepares its next budget presentation, the Finance Ministry faces increasing pressure not only from the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives but also from civil society voices and policy think tanks. The demand is for nurses, midwives, and junior doctors who have served the nation for months without compensation to be paid.
For Kofi Asare, the situation is not merely a question of financial administration but of national survival. His warning captured the urgency: if frontline health workers continue to go unpaid, the very lives of Ghanaians they are meant to save could be put at risk.
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