The Minority in Parliament has accused the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, of misleading health professionals over claims that the government has secured financial clearance for their employment and payment of arrears.
Mr. Akandoh, during a press conference on Monday, October 13, announced that the Cabinet had approved financial clearance for various categories of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.
However, at a counter press conference, the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, disputed the minister’s claims, describing them as deceptive.
He explained that the financial clearance for the recruitment of health professionals had expired on December 31, 2024, under the previous administration, and accused the Mahama government of failing to renew it.
He further alleged that although the previous government had allocated funds for the recruitment of 15,000 health workers, only about 7,000 to 8,000 were engaged before the change of administration. The rest, he said, were later employed by the Ghana Health Service, even though their clearances had lapsed.
The Minority maintained that funds are already available and therefore sees no justification for the Health Minister’s decision to seek Cabinet approval to pay the affected workers.
He asked, “Why didn’t the government see the need to seek extension? Money was allocated for 15,000, you came in 7,000, or almost 8,000 have started. The remaining were employed by GHS. Albeit they were late, they were at post.
“You didn’t see the need to tell the institutions to reject them. Neither did the institutions tell you to reject them. What it meant was that they filled the gap and needed to be at post, and the institutions used them. Embarrassingly enough, you’re saying that you have taken it to the cabinet for approval. What sort of cabinet approval do you need when you have clearance already?”
Dr. Afriyie accused the government of attempting to cover up what he described as “a mess” in the handling of health sector employment issues.
“He’s throwing dust into the eyes of the people. The government created a mess, and they have seen that ten months have caught up with them, and they are fixing it,” he claimed.
The Minority maintained that the Health Minister’s comments were misleading and called on him to provide accurate information regarding the status of financial clearances and arrears payments for health professionals.
