Employment Minister Dr Rashid Pelpuo says the current administration inherited a payroll crisis from the previous government, describing it as a deliberate attempt to create problems for successors.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 7, the Wa Central MP accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of employing thousands of workers without proper financial planning before leaving office.

“It’s in their DNA to give the incoming government a problem, let them fail, and let the people say that they have failed,” Dr Pelpuo said.

“This tells the story of what complaints we had when we assumed office — that at the point of exit of the NPP government, they imposed on us 12,000 new workforce that they did not prepare to pay them, didn’t have the money to pay them, but employed them.

"And then they exited the three-month budget which they had to prepare for as we take over, but didn’t take into consideration any of these.”

The Minister was reacting to protests by the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, who marched in Accra on October 2 to demand salaries for nearly 7,000 health workers left unpaid for almost 10 months.

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

The nurses explained that though they were officially posted in December 2024 after financial clearance, many still have not been paid, even though about 6,500 of their colleagues received salaries in April 2025.

Dr Pelpuo said this pattern was not new, recalling how the outgoing Kufuor administration left behind the Single Spine Salary Structure, which the late President Atta Mills had to contend with.

“So it’s like their DNA to give the incoming government a problem,” he said.

He criticised the previous administration for making employment decisions based on political motives rather than fiscal responsibility.

Responding to a question from host Evans Mensah, he said the timing of the recruitment — before the 2024 elections — was evidence that the NPP was more interested in winning votes than ensuring sustainable payroll management.

“It shows that there had not been preparation. They had been preparing to contest an election,” he explained.

“Everything that will give them a good image from the side of the young person who is unemployed and looking for a job is what they will do.

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

Pressed further on whether this meant the move was politically calculated, Dr Pelpuo said, “That’s the assumption — that what they are doing, there is 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, however, assured that the government was committed to resolving the issue.

“We are not complaining; we are looking at the situation where we can satisfy the will of the people who have given us the mandate,” he said.

“We acknowledge the fact that young people, as they are, need to start life and need to 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 before, maybe before the end of the year.”