Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, says the government will clear all outstanding salary arrears owed to newly recruited nurses and other public sector workers before the end of the year.

He made this assurance on JoyNews’ PM Express on October 7, following mounting pressure from the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives, who staged a protest in Accra on October 2.

The group is demanding the payment of salaries for nearly 7,000 health workers who have been working without pay for close to 10 months.

The Coalition explained that while official postings were granted in December 2024 after financial clearance, only about 6,500 of their colleagues were paid in April 2025, leaving thousands still without salaries despite repeated appeals.

Dr Pelpuo said the situation was inherited and blamed it on what he called an “irresponsible decision” by the previous NPP government to employ 12,000 new workers without securing funds to pay them.

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

“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 employed them, and then exited without making budgetary provisions.”

He described the move as a deliberate attempt to saddle the new administration with financial burdens, recalling a similar situation during the transition from the Kufuor administration.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

The Minister criticised the practice of last-minute recruitment before elections, saying it was politically motivated.

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

“They had been preparing to contest an election. 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.”

Responding to a question about whether the move was politically calculated to attract votes, 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 the impression that they, too, are employed.”

Despite his criticism, the Minister stressed that the current government is focused on finding solutions rather than trading blame.

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

"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 before, maybe before the end of the year.”