Employment and Labour Relations Minister Dr. Rashid Pelpuo has blamed the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the ongoing salary delays affecting newly recruited nurses and midwives, accusing the previous administration of intentionally creating fiscal challenges for its successors.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 7, the Wa Central MP said the NPP government, before leaving office, recruited thousands of workers without securing the necessary financial backing to pay their salaries.
“It’s in their DNA to hand over problems — make the incoming government fail so people will say they’ve failed,” Dr. Pelpuo stated.
He revealed that upon assuming office, the current government discovered that about 12,000 newly recruited workers had been added to the public payroll without any financial provision.
“At the time of their exit, they had imposed on us 12,000 new employees with no budgetary allocation to pay them,” he added. “Even the three-month transitional budget excluded these costs.”
The Minister’s comments come in the wake of protests by the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, who hit the streets of Accra on October 2 to demand payment of nearly 10 months’ salary arrears.
The aggrieved nurses explained that although they were officially posted in December 2024 following financial clearance, thousands are yet to receive any payment, despite about 6,500 colleagues being paid in April 2025.
Dr. Pelpuo said this was not the first time the NPP had left behind financial complications for a new administration, citing similar challenges inherited from the Kufuor government during the introduction of the Single Spine Salary Structure under the late President Atta Mills.
“It seems to be in their DNA to hand over crises,” he said.
He accused the previous government of prioritizing political optics over fiscal discipline, arguing that the mass recruitment was timed to influence the 2024 elections.
“There was no real preparation — they were preparing for an election,” he explained. “They wanted to look good in the eyes of unemployed youth by offering jobs, even when they lacked the funds to sustain it.”
When asked whether the move was politically motivated, Dr. Pelpuo replied:
“That’s the assumption — that it was more about political gain than genuine intent to pay those they employed.”
Despite the challenges, he assured affected health workers that the government was actively working to resolve the issue.
“We’re not complaining. We’re focused on finding solutions,” he said. “We know young people need stability and income to build their lives, and we are doing everything possible to address this — hopefully before the end of the year.”
Source: myjoyonline.com
