Nursing trainees expected arrears of their allowances to have been paid last week based on an assurance by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia who was accosted by a trainee during a campaign tour about the lack of payment of their allowances.

On the spot, he assured that he would take the matter up with the finance minister to ensure the trainees are paid.

In a subsequent comment at another event, he disclosed that monies had been released for the payments as of last week Thursday.

The umbrella body for the trainee nurses and midwives, however, have revealed that the payments have yet to be reflected in their accounts.

In a statement issued on Monday, May 20, the Coalition of Concerned Nurses and Midwives trainees said, “Despite the Vice President’s announcement over nineteen days ago, no payments have been made nor information provided on the disbursement process.

“The government’s failure to address these arrears comprehensively continues to burden our future healthcare professionals.”

The coalition also pointed out that 177 million Ghana cedi announced by Dr. Bawumia is “woefully inadequate” to cater for the number of months owed them."

“The recently released GHC117 million covers only 11.5% of the total arrears, which is woefully inadequate. Furthermore, 30% of the trainees, approximately 17,430 students, have never received any allowances. This group’s arrears alone amount to GHC209.16 million which is even more than the paltry Ghc177M.

“This calculation does not include the 30% of trainees who have never received any allowances, amounting to an additional GHC209,160,000. Therefore, the minimum total arrears required is GHC209.16 Million,” the statement added.

The Minister of Health, Bernard Okoe Boye has meanwhile assured that the government will eventually settle the arrears unlike the previous administration that totally abolished the payments.

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