ACCRA, Oct 3 (The African Portal) – Ghana’s Ministry of Health has pledged to clear salary arrears owed to junior doctors, nurses and midwives, following threats of strike action over months of unpaid wages.
The Junior Doctors’ Association of Ghana (JDA-GH) has announced a nationwide withdrawal of services starting Oct. 7, citing unpaid salaries, stalled postings and what it called “persistent unfair treatment.” Their action follows a protest on Oct. 2 by a coalition of unpaid nurses and midwives who say more than 7,000 of them have worked nine to 10 months without pay.
Health ministry spokesperson Tony Goodman said the delays stemmed from rushed recruitments, particularly under the previous administration, which resulted in some workers being placed on payroll without proper financial clearance.
“We had about 1,000 pharmacists who had completed their service but had not received their salaries, but they have now been paid. Some medical officers were also caught up in the same web, and they too have been paid,” Goodman told local broadcaster Citi FM on Friday.
“Currently, we have officers doing their house job asking for their salaries to be paid. With the medical doctors, it was a mix-up that has already been cleared and will be dealt with,” he added.
Goodman said Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh was working with the finance ministry to settle all arrears.
“The rush to post health workers who had been waiting for several years contributed to the payroll challenges. Everybody who was not part of the financial clearance was caught up in this. As of yesterday, we have dealt with it. We now know those who have been paid and those who are yet to be paid,” he said.
He stressed that the ministry was committed to resolving the issue, saying new financial clearances were being processed to regularise the salaries of affected workers.
