Minister of Health Kwabena Mintah Akandoh says the government has fully settled the outstanding salary arrears owed to nurses and other health professionals who were posted without financial clearance.

He insists that the government no longer owes any of the affected workers arrears, declaring that all outstanding payments have been made.

Speaking on Starr FM’s Morning Star programme on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, Mr Akandoh said the affected health professionals had also been placed on the government payroll.

“At the moment, we don’t owe anybody a single cedi as far as arrears is concerned. So we’ve paid all of them; they’re on the payroll, we’ve paid all their arrears,” he stated.

13,500 Health Professionals Affected

The Health Minister explained that the government inherited a situation involving approximately 13,500 health professionals who had been posted to health facilities without the necessary financial clearance.

According to him, some of the affected workers had gone between five and seven months without receiving their salaries.

He said the government decided to allow them to remain at their posts while efforts were made to secure funding to pay their outstanding entitlements.

Mr Akandoh described the settlement of the arrears and the regularisation of their employment as a deliberate effort to address the difficulties faced by the affected workers.

Government Plans Further Recruitment

The Minister also disclosed that the government was working to address the wider backlog of trained but unemployed health professionals.

He said the government had set a target of recruiting approximately 16,000 health workers, with financial clearance already secured for the first 8,000.

The next batch of 8,000 is expected to follow, with recruitment being conducted according to seniority while also making room for allied health professionals.

Mr Akandoh further mentioned the Ghana Labour Exchange Programme, through which the government is working with other countries to facilitate employment opportunities abroad for Ghanaian health professionals.

He acknowledged that many trained health professionals were still waiting for employment but explained that recruitment must be phased in line with the country’s available budget.

The Minister said future recruitment would be undertaken only after the necessary financial clearance had been secured to prevent a recurrence of the salary arrears problem.

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