The Ministry of Finance has pledged to resolve the long-standing salary arrears of unemployed nurses and midwives who have gone without pay for nearly ten months.
On Thursday, October 02, a coalition of unpaid nurses and midwives, representing about 7,000 health professionals, stormed the Ministry’s premises in Accra to submit a petition demanding immediate action.
Convenor of the coalition, Stephen Kwadwo Takyiah, lamented the situation, calling it both unfair and unsustainable.
“For the past nine to ten months, we have been working in hospitals and in clinics across the country without salary. Your Ministry has reportedly delayed our payment on the grounds of budgetary constraints and expiration of financial clearance.
Respectfully, sir, it is unacceptable for duly recruited health professionals with official financial clearance to be lumped together with payroll irregularities,” the petition stated.
The nurses demanded three things: the immediate allocation of funds to settle arrears, a clear timeline for payment, and stronger collaboration between the Finance and Health ministries to prevent similar delays in the future.
Receiving the petition, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko apologised for the hardships endured and assured the group that their plight would be factored into the upcoming budget presentation by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.
“I will send the petition to him. The Health Minister and my Minister are in constant touch. We know your predicaments. In the next month or so, the finance minister will be in Parliament to present a new budget. Issues of health workers who have not been paid—nurses, doctors, and others—are seriously being considered. And you are going to receive your salary,” he said.
Mr. Nyarko acknowledged that the government was still addressing “legacy challenges” inherited from previous years but reassured the nurses that their concerns had the government’s full attention.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
