Isaac Offei Baah, the Ministry of Health’s public relations officer, has disclosed that GHc154 million has been released by the Finance Minister to cover the nursing trainees’ arrears.
According to him, GHc62 million was paid last week. They have already disbursed another GHc 30 million this week, and next week they anticipate disbursing another GHc 62 million.
In an interview with TV3, Mr Offei Baah urged the trainees to exercise patience with the government until all of their outstanding balances are settled.
“We had an agreement with them, we sat down and spoke about it, and the demand was seven months. We know we owe them some money.”
“As I mentioned to you last week, we paid for two months. Yesterday, we also released another tranche, and we anticipate paying out another one by the end of the following week. Therefore, it’s not as though the government isn’t paying them; rather, it’s just paying them what is rightfully due,” he stated.
He added “The only reason why it is delaying is that we all know the situation in which we earlier found ourselves, by the will of God we are getting out of this situation and so the government has started giving out funds is one of the reasons we can say our nursing trainees and nurses should exercise some bit of patience for us, we will get the money for them, we have started paying them as agreed and this week another tranche is gone, next week another tranche will also go.
“So far last week was Ghc 62 million, this week is 30 million and we expect another 62 million so you can look at the quantum of money. The number of nurses has increased significantly to close to 150 percent so where you have to admit 30,000 students every year, that should tell you that in the next three years, you have 30,000 students coming out.”
This comes at a time when the Flagbearer of the NDC, Former President John Dramani Mahama told President Akuffo Addo and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to pay the nursing trainees their allowance.
It is recalled that Mr Mahama while in office cancelled the payment of allowance to the teaching and nursing trainees to allow more people to access the training institutions.
He argued that the presence of the allowance was denying more people access to education.
But President Akufo-Addo upon assumption of office, restored the allowance.
But the nurses trainees said for two years now, they have not received any payment from the government.
Mr Mahama during his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ in the Bono Region on Sunday, November 19 said “Nana Addo and Bawumia said they will pay the allowances, I beg you, Nana Addo and Bawumia if you’re hearing me, we are here in Krobo Nursing Training School, they say two years now you haven’t paid them their allowances, let the allawa come.”
SOURCE: 3news
