The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has announced that the government intends to settle all salary arrears owed to 13,500 health workers by the conclusion of July 2026, following several months of delayed payments.
In an interview conducted on Wednesday, April 22, he stated that the Ministry has initiated a phased payment strategy to address the outstanding arrears.
He indicated that by the end of April, the affected nurses and midwives will receive two months’ worth of arrears, with an additional three months anticipated to be disbursed by the end of June, culminating in full clearance by July.
He clarified that the issue arises from a discrepancy between recruitment and available financial resources, emphasizing that the government inherited a system in which thousands of health workers were employed without corresponding budgetary allocations.
The Minister also disclosed that Ghana’s health sector has experienced a significant increase in trained professionals in recent years, with numbers growing from approximately 74,000 to nearly 100,000 by the end of 2025, many of whom have yet to be integrated into the system.
While recognizing the existence of vacancies within the health sector, Akandoh emphasized that employment is contingent upon fiscal capacity, indicating that the government can only hire based on its ability to pay salaries.
“However, there are positions that remain unfilled. The challenge pertains to fiscal space, meaning financial resources, so employment can only occur within the limits of what can be funded in the budget.
“We inherited a scenario where around 13,500 nurses and midwives were employed without any financial backing.
“By the grace of God, we have successfully placed all of them on the payroll, and we have staggered their arrears. By the end of April, we will be disbursing two months; by the end of June, we will be disbursing three months; and by the end of July, we will have cleared all outstanding payments,” he stated.
