The Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has clarified that the previous administration, led by H.E. Nana Addo-Danquah Akuffo Addo, made no financial allocation for the payment of nurses and midwives recruited in the later period of 2024.
The minister stated categorically that contrary to the claims of the minority, the financial clearance that was issued for the recruitment of 13,500 nurses and midwives in 2024 was not backed by any financial provision.
The said clearance, as confirmed by the minister and the minority spokesperson on health, expired on 31st December, 2024.
The minority spokesperson on health, the Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, Hon. Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye had argued that the minister for health could have simply extended the clearance from the ministry of finance.
He was of the view that there was no need for the approval of another clearance from cabinet, as the minister for health did and confirmed at his latest press conference.
However, Hon. Akandoh dismissed Dr. Afriye’s position, arguing that a clearance certificate is not just issued in a vacuum; it must be issued only when there is financial provision to effect it.
“Once you issue clearance, you must make financial provision. Clearance is just not a paper. It’s not just like you can issue clearance at any given time. You must issue clearance when indeed you can pay when you recruit the people.”
Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The minister for health argued that since no financial provision was made for the payment of the said 13,500 nurses and midwives, their clearance that expired on 31st December, 2024, could not just be extended as the minority claimed.
He further noted that beyond making financial provision to validate the clearance issued, all the recruited persons should be placed on the payroll, which, according to him, was also not carried out by the past administration, now the minority.
“What it means is that before the expiration of the clearance, you must necessarily have all these 13,500 people on the payroll. As of the end of the 31st of December 2024, not a single one of the 13,500 people was on the payroll.”
Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The minister also noted that when he assumed office in the later periods of February, there were two options available to the government for the nurses and midwives that had been recruited.
One was that the health workers be relieved of their duties and wait for the government to get funding for them before they are reinstated to work.
The second one, he said, was that the workers be left to carry out their duties while the government finds funding and pays them. As he stated, the ministry decided to go with the second option.
“So, after the time we came in, there were no allocations whatsoever to the 13,500 people. So, we decided that, okay, no matter what, they have been recruited, so let them stay, and let us try to put them on the payroll.”
Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
Hon. Akandoh also revealed that this matter was not made known during the transition period, and since the reports of the transition contributed largely to budgetary allocations for 2025, the budget read by the Finance Minister, Hon. Casiel Ato Forson, did not also make provision for these health professionals who had been working for months.
He, however, stated that ever since the matter came to his attention, he has liaised with the finance minister to find amicable solutions, which resulted in onboarding the workers on the payroll gradually.
“I have been collaborating with the minister responsible for finance, and out of the 13,500, we managed to put about 7,000 of them on the payroll. In fact, the reality is that we captured about 10,000 of them on the payroll, but only 7,000 people were being paid. Some of them have received payment from March thereabouts.” – Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
Minister for Health, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh
The minister also made known that beyond the 13,500 nurses and midwives, there were outstanding arrears and conditions of service agreements that the previous administration left behind. He confirmed that the current administration has had to take care of that also.
He therefore reiterated his assurance that the remaining workers will be onboarded on the payroll, given the clearance signed by cabinet and the provision of funding. He also reassured his ministry’s commitment to ensuring the well-being of the health sector workers.
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