The government of Ghana has released GHS 38m to clear the arrears of nursing trainees allowances, the Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Hadzide has said.
He said the released fund will sort allowances that are being owed the trainee nurses from July.
This week, some trainee nurses threatened to demonstrate against the government for not paying their allowances on time.
In a bid to allay their fears, Hadzide said the Controller and Accountant General has released GHC35 million out of the almost GHC60 million that is spent quarterly on the payment of trainee allowances.
“I expect that by next week trainees would be smiling to the banks or wherever to receive their allowances. I am impressed with their candor and I ask them to remain calm as government is moving at jet speed to resolve all challenges and to get Ghana working again after several years of mismanagement, “ he said.
The restoration of teacher trainee allowances was one of the main promises of then-candidate Akufo-Addo in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo upon assuming office in 2017, kept his promise and restored the allowances effective September 2017 to the joy of the trainee nurses who had complained about the hardships they faced without those funds.
The Deputy Information Minister assured that the outstanding GHC 25 million will be released in due course explaining further that all final year students will be paid the three months arrears i.e. April, May and June whereas trainee nurses currently pursuing their programmes will receive one (1) month arrears with outstanding two months to be cleared shortly.
Pius also said the delay in the payment of the allowances has been mainly due to the fact that, the allowances were treated as a statutory payment which was paid quarterly and in his arrears.
This meant that the payment of the allowances was made at the beginning of the next quarter, a situation which affected the timely release of monies to the trainees.
