The Ministry of Finance has responded to an appeal by the Coalition of Unpaid Newly Posted Staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) over outstanding salary arrears, insisting that there are no unresolved financial clearance requests from the GES currently awaiting action, and confirming that all affected staff have already been paid.
In a statement issued to clarify its position, the Ministry acknowledged the concerns raised by the Coalition but pushed back against suggestions that arrears remain outstanding for the group of staff whose recruitment had previously been affected by delayed financial clearance.
According to the Ministry, government inherited a total of 6,300 GES staff in 2025 who had originally been recruited in 2024 without the necessary financial clearance in place at the time.
This gap in clearance had created payment complications for the affected staff, contributing to the frustrations that later fed into public agitation over unpaid salaries within the sector.
To resolve the matter, the Ministry said it secured Cabinet approval and subsequently issued the required financial clearance to enable payment of the affected staff, with the arrangement structured to be disbursed across four separate tranches.
Addressing the core of the Coalition’s grievance directly, the Ministry stated unequivocally that all 6,300 staff members covered under this arrangement have now been paid in full.
“The Ministry of Finance can confirm that all 6,300 staff covered by this arrangement have been paid,”
Ministry of Finance
No Pending Clearance Requests From GES
Beyond confirming payment for the 2024 recruitment cohort, the Ministry further clarified that there are currently no outstanding requests for financial clearance from the Ghana Education Service awaiting action at the Ministry of Finance.
This clarification appears intended to pre-empt any suggestion that a broader backlog of unresolved clearance requests continues to affect other GES staff beyond the specific 6,300 already addressed.
“The Ministry further clarifies that there are no outstanding requests for financial clearance from the GES awaiting action by the Ministry of Finance,” the statement noted, effectively closing the door on claims of a systemic clearance bottleneck originating from the Ministry’s end.
Affected Staff Directed To GES For Individual Concerns
For any staff members who continue to experience unresolved salary or arrears issues despite the Ministry’s confirmation, the statement directed them to contact the Ghana Education Service directly for assistance with the relevant payroll or administrative matter.
“Any staff member with an unresolved salary or arrears issue is advised to contact the Ghana Education Service for assistance with the relevant payroll or administrative matter,”
Ministry of Finance
The statement comes amid continued public pressure from unpaid teachers and newly posted GES staff, some of whom have staged protests and issued formal petitions over prolonged salary delays affecting various cohorts within the education sector.
By explicitly confirming payment of the 6,300-strong 2024 recruitment cohort and denying the existence of any pending clearance backlog, the Ministry appears to be drawing a clear line between resolved and unresolved cases, while shifting responsibility for any remaining individual grievances toward GES’s internal administrative processes.
Outstanding Questions for Affected Staff
While the Ministry’s statement addresses the specific 2024 recruitment cohort directly, it remains unclear how this clarification aligns with broader concerns raised separately by groups such as the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers from Colleges of Education and Universities, who have cited distinct issues relating to staff ID exclusions and unresolved arrears spanning up to two years.
With the Ministry now insisting that its obligations toward the 2024 cohort have been fully discharged, attention will likely turn to how GES handles any individual complaints referred to it, and whether affected staff groups consider the Ministry’s clarification sufficient to resolve their outstanding concerns.
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