Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has appealed to the Finance Ministry to pay the nurses and doctors.
Kofi Asare wondered how the unpaid doctors and nurses save lives when they themselves are dying over the unpaid salaries.
“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,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
The Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives on Thursday, October 2, staged a protest in Accra to demand the payment of salaries for nearly 7,000 health workers who have been working without pay for close to 10 months.
The demonstration started at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park before the protesters marched through the capital and later gathered at the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, where petitions were presented.
The group explained that they received official postings in December 2024 after financial clearance was granted.
While about 6,500 of their colleagues were paid in April 2025, thousands remain without salaries despite repeated appeals.
Convener of the coalition, Stephen Kwadwo Takyiah, said the continuous delay was unacceptable and demoralising.
“While some 6,500 colleagues have been paid since April 2025, the delay in settling the arrears of the rest is crippling the delivery of quality healthcare across the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Ampem Nyarko has assured the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives that their outstanding salaries will be captured in the next budget presentation.
“The message I give them is what I’m giving to you: that your issue is being addressed. We have inherited numerous legacy challenges, and we are working diligently to address them all. 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, not just you, there are even some doctors and others, are seriously being considered, and you are going to receive your salary,” he stated after receiving a petition from the nurses.
The Deputy Minister also expressed gratitude to the nurses and midwives for their service, while apologising for the delay.
“We appreciate the work that you do for Ghana, and I’m sorry for those of you who are not even well, but have had to walk all the way here to present this petition. It will be given the needed urgent attention, as you have stated, and you’ll hear back from us,” he added.
