The Health Minister, Dr Benard Okoe Boye, says government owes some nursing trainees their allowance despite the release of GHC177 million to clear the arrears owed about one hundred thousand of them.
The Health Minister on the sidelines of a working visit to the LEKMA Hospital and the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC) entreated the nursing trainees to trust government as it works hard to clear the remaining arrears.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia last week said the Ministry of Finance has approved a sum of GHC177 million to be paid to trainee nurses across Ghana. The money is part-payment of an outstanding debt owed the trainees for months.
The Minister, while commenting on the concerns by the trainee nurses regarding their delayed allowance promised by government, said they should be grateful to government for the effort to get the issue resolved.
According to him, he acknowledges the delays and the number of them yet to receive their monies.
“I have sighted communiques from the Ministry through Ministry of Finance and back and forth showing that we paid some GHC177 million for over one hundred thousand nurses covering some four months of payments. Look, there are thousands of nurses whose allowance has been paid by this government.
And it is also true that there are others whose payments are in arrears. We have decided to work hard to sustain and to pay this arears. You have to choose between the one who says I will pay you and pays you and sometimes owes you. And the other one who says, me I can’t pay these things at all,” Dr Okoe Boye stated.
Read also:
Despite Bawumia’s promise, no payments have been made – Trainee Nurses and Midwives
The Minister further threw a challenge to the trainee nurses on who is their best bet between the two governments.
“And so, if you have had the other government led by John Mahama, for the past 8yrs it will be zero for all nurses in Ghana. But as we speak hundreds of thousands of nurses have had support from the Akufo-Addo government and it is also true there are hundreds of thousands who are calling for theirs to come. We will work hard to ensure that everybody receives what is due them.
This is the kind of government that you have to support. The one who says I will shoulder this burden. I will work hard to sustain, it is better than the one who says this is too much load for me. I can’t carry. The choice is yours,“ he said.
During his visit to the two facilities, Dr Okoe Boye interacted with the managers and donated ambulances to facilitate better delivery of healthcare services.
He was accompanied by some officials from the Ministry of Health as well as the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Titus Glover.
By Sarah Apenkroh
