Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu has admitted that the government cannot fulfil every commitment made by previous administrations, including agreements on nurses’ conditions of service.

The Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese MP said this during an interview on PM Express on Tuesday, June 10, as the nationwide strike by the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) entered a critical phase following failed talks with the Ministry of Health.

“The truth is we simply cannot continue with everything a previous government agreed to,” Mr Kwakye Ofosu said.

“There’s a reason why governments change. Governance must be responsible. And if you see that there is difficulty arising from a certain action by a previous government, you have a responsibility to take corrective measures.”

The GRNMA is on strike over government’s request to delay implementing new conditions of service until 2026.

The association has rejected that outright, saying nurses have waited long enough. But Kwakye Ofosu says government must act based on current economic realities, not inherited promises.

“It is true that government is a continuum,” he said, “but when we took over, we assessed the situation and the Finance Ministry’s view was that the required resources—some GH¢2 billion annually—would severely strain the national budget.”

He argued that it would be irresponsible to proceed with commitments that were not properly budgeted for, warning that doing so could destabilise the economy.

“We need a functioning economy before we can meet some of these demands. As the venerable Alhaji ABA Fuseini would say, ‘you need a head before you can chew corn.’”

Pressed by host Evans Mensah on why government didn’t make provisions for the agreement in the 2025 budget if it was part of the transition notes, Kwakye Ofosu replied, “You don’t put it in a budget merely because you’ve met it.

"Many things were in the pipeline when we took over, but we had to assess their impact. Some were not in our collective interest and were discontinued.”

He maintained that the GH¢2 billion figure—possibly even higher—cannot be absorbed given other public sector obligations.

“The question is: can the budget sustain it, considering there are other public sector workers whose needs we also have to meet?”

Mr Kwakye Ofosu admitted that the government had made a choice not to include the agreement in the 2025 budget.

But he insisted that the choice was justified. “Given that discussions had not been concluded and we had not reached a place where we could comfortably add it to the national budget, it was necessary to hold further deliberations. You can’t impose such a quantum of unbudgeted expenditure on yourself.”

He warned that doing so would return Ghana to the era of fiscal slippages and economic hardship. “We all saw the effects of unbudgeted spending—the deficits, the debts. That’s partly how we got here in the first place.”

Despite the stalemate, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said the government still hopes to engage the nurses.

“We haven’t taken a unilateral decision. We’re asking for further negotiations. We still hope they will come to the table.”

In the meantime, the government is directing patients to facilities not affected by the strike.

“The Health Minister has outlined options. Some facilities are private or structured differently, so their nurses are not part of the strike. Government’s duty is to ensure patients are not left stranded.”

The strike has left many hospitals and clinics without essential nursing staff, raising concerns about patient safety.

But Kwakye Ofosu says government cannot afford to collapse the national budget under pressure.

“We can’t throw the whole budget off-gear. That’s how we end up back in the same place that caused Ghanaians to demand change.”