Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, has assured that the government will settle all outstanding salary arrears owed to newly recruited nurses and other public sector workers by the end of the year. Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 7, he gave the assurance in response to growing pressure from the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, which staged a protest in Accra on October 2.
The group is demanding payment for nearly 7,000 health workers who have gone without salaries for close to 10 months. According to the Coalition, although official postings were issued in December 2024 following financial clearance, only about 6,500 workers received payment in April 2025, leaving thousands still unpaid despite repeated petitions.
Dr Pelpuo said the situation was inherited and blamed it on what he called an “irresponsible decision” by the previous NPP government to employ 12,000 new workers without securing funds to pay them. “This tells the story of what complaints we had when we assumed office,” he said.
“At the point of exit of the NPP government, they imposed on us 12,000 new workers that they did not prepare to pay. They didn’t have the money to pay them but employed them, and then exited without making budgetary provisions.” He described the move as a deliberate attempt to saddle the new administration with financial burdens, recalling a similar situation during the transition from the Kufuor administration. “Remember when President J.A. Kufuor was leaving, what was imposed on us was the Single Spine Salary Structure, which Atta Mills had to struggle with,” he said.
“So it’s like their DNA to give the incoming government a problem, let them fail, and let the people say that they have failed.” The Minister criticised the practice of last-minute recruitment before elections, saying it was politically motivated. “It shows that there had not been preparation,” he said.
“They were clearly preparing for an election, doing whatever would enhance their image in the eyes of unemployed young people seeking jobs,” he remarked. When asked if the move was politically motivated to win votes, Dr. Pelpuo responded, “That is the assumption—that their actions carried a political calculation. It was not necessarily about paying the workers, but rather about creating the impression that they had been employed.”
Despite his criticism, the Minister stressed that the current government is focused on finding solutions rather than trading blame. “We are not complaining,” he said. “We are looking at the situation where we can satisfy the will of the people who have given us the mandate.
“We acknowledge the fact that young people need to start life and be comfortable working for what they have been employed to do. So we are doing everything to make it possible that we solve this problem before, maybe before the end of the year.”
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
