The Minority in Parliament has dismissed claims by Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh that over 6,500 nurses were recruited by the Nana Addo administration without financial clearance. The minister had alleged that the affected nurses, who have been at post for several months without pay, were engaged illegally and assured that they would be paid by next month.
However, addressing the media in Parliament, Ranking Member on the Health Committee, Dr. Ayew Afriye, refuted the minister’s assertion, insisting that the previous administration had secured the necessary financial clearance for the recruitment of health professionals.
According to him, the clearance, issued on July 17, 2024, authorized the Ministry of Health to engage 15,200 nurses and midwives who graduated from both public and private institutions.
Dr. Afriye explained that the financial clearance took immediate effect and enabled various health agencies, including the Ministry of Health and the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), to recruit and pay staff until December 2024 when the clearance expired.
He noted that those recruited under the Ministry’s supervision received salaries from July through October last year, adding that only the Ghana Health Service delayed its recruitment process but still completed it before the expiration of the clearance.
He argued that the current challenge stems from the Health Ministry’s failure to seek an extension from the Ministry of Finance after the clearance expired. “In normal public administration, once financial clearance expires, the sector ministry only needs to request an extension. This government, for political reasons, refused to do so,” Dr. Afriye said, accusing the Ministry of negligence.
According to the Ranking Member, the government’s inaction has created unnecessary hardship for nurses who have been working without pay for the past ten months. He stressed that none of the institutions that engaged the nurses rejected them because they were needed at post, saying, “except for political reasons, government saw no need to extend the clearance.”
Dr. Afriye further noted that the Minority had refrained from politicizing the nurses’ demonstrations earlier this year to allow the new administration time to address the issue. He, however, accused the government of attempting to shift blame for its own shortcomings. “Government created this mess, and now, ten months down the line, they have seen the need to fix it,” he stated.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
