Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, has accused the Akufo-Addo government of burdening the new administration with thousands of newly recruited but unpaid public sector workers before exiting office.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 7, the Wa Central MP said the Mahama government inherited 12,000 newly engaged workers without financial provisions or clearance to pay their salaries.

“This tells the story of what complaints we had when we assumed office,” he said.

“At the point of exit of the NPP government, they imposed on us 12,000 new workers that they did not prepare to pay. They didn’t have the money to pay them, but they employed them. And then they exited.

"The three-month budgets which they had to prepare for, as we take over, didn’t take into consideration any of these. And so we came into office with no preparations to pay anybody.

"All the people they had just newly employed did not have enough clearance, but they imposed them on the government, and then they left.”

The Minister’s comments come in the wake of growing unrest among unpaid nurses and midwives who recently staged a protest in Accra.

Read also: Unpaid nurses and midwives protest over 10-month salary arrears

The Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives say nearly 7,000 of their members have worked for almost 10 months without pay.

They were officially posted in December 2024 after receiving financial clearance, but while about 6,500 have since been paid, thousands remain without salaries.

Dr Pelpuo suggested that the problem stemmed from political motivations rather than genuine planning.

“It shows that there had not been preparation,” he explained.

“They had been preparing to contest elections. Everything that would give them a good image from the side of the young person who is unemployed and looking for a job is what they would do.

"So they had done this over a period of time, hoping that in the culminating imposition of another 12,000, they would have then won the hearts of the young people and given them another mandate.”

Responding to a question about whether this was a political strategy to attract votes, the Minister agreed.

“That’s the assumption — that what they are doing has some level of political decision tied to it. Not necessarily because they wanted to pay them, but just to give them the impression that they, too, are employed,” he said.

Dr Pelpuo also recalled a similar situation in the past.

“Remember when President J.A. Kufuor was leaving, what was imposed on us was the Single Spine Salary Structure, which Atta Mills had to struggle with. So it’s like their DNA to give the incoming government a problem — let them fail, and let the people say that they have failed.”

He described the move as politically reckless and unfair to young workers.

“It’s not a good thing for us to be doing. Once your point of existence as a government comes to an end, go. The people had already rejected you. There’s nothing you can do to bring yourself back to power. You can’t recreate a future which has been lost.”

The Minister, however, assured that the government is taking steps to resolve the issue. “We are not complaining,” he emphasised.

“We are working towards ending this problem of unpaid workers. We acknowledge the fact that young people need to start life and be comfortable working for what they have been employed to do.

"So we are doing everything to make it possible that we solve this problem, maybe before the end of the year.”