Govt will pay your salary arrears -Health Ministry assures junior doctors and nurses

The protesting nurses, midwives, and Junior Doctors’ Association have been reassured by the Ministry of Health that efforts are underway to address the delays in salary arrears payments.

Following months of unpaid salaries, stalled postings, and what they call ongoing unfair treatment, the Junior Doctors’ Association of Ghana (JDA-GH) announced a planned statewide withdrawal of services, which will take effect on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

Following a demonstration by a coalition of unpaid nurses and midwives on Thursday, October 2, calling for the payment of salary arrears, this announcement was made.

Despite being officially hired, the group claims that more than 7,000 nurses and midwives have been working for nine to ten months without receiving compensation.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, October 3, Ministry of Health Spokesperson Tony Goodman clarified that the reason for the salary delays was that some health workers were put on payroll without the required financial clearance due to hurried hiring practices, particularly during the previous administration.

“We had about 1,000 pharmacists who had completed their service but had not received their salaries, but they have now been paid. Some medical officers were also caught up in the same web, and they too have been paid.

“Currently, we have officers doing their house job asking for their salaries to be paid. With the medical doctors, it was a mix-up that has already been cleared and will be dealt with,” Mr Goodman stated.

He added that the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, is working to ensure all outstanding arrears are cleared.

According to him, the “rush” to post health workers who had been waiting for several years contributed to the payroll challenges. “Everybody who was not part of the financial clearance was caught up in this. As of yesterday, we have dealt with it. We now know those who have been paid and those who are yet to be paid,” he said.

Mr Goodman assured that the Ministry was committed to resolving the matter, stressing that new financial clearances are being processed to regularise the salaries of affected health workers.