The Minister for Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has disclosed that the government plans to clear all salary arrears owed to 13,500 health workers by the end of July 2026, following months of payment delays.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, April 22, he said the Ministry has already begun a phased payment plan to settle the outstanding arrears.
According to him, by the end of April, affected nurses and midwives will receive two months of arrears, with an additional three months expected to be paid by the end of June, before the full clearance is completed in July.
He explained that the situation stems from a mismatch between recruitment and available financial resources, noting that the government inherited a system where thousands of health workers had been employed without corresponding budgetary allocation.
The Minister further revealed that Ghana’s health sector has seen a surge in trained professionals in recent years, with numbers rising from about 74,000 to nearly 100,000 by the end of 2025, many of whom are yet to be absorbed into the system.
While acknowledging the availability of vacancies within the health sector, Akandoh stressed that employment remains dependent on fiscal space, indicating that the government can only recruit based on its capacity to pay salaries.
“But there are spaces that have not been filled. The problem has to do with fiscal space, that is, money, so you can only employ what you can pay for within your budget.
“We inherited a situation where about 13,500 nurses and midwives had been employed without financial provision.
“By the grace of God, we managed to get all of them onto the payroll, and we have staggered their arrears. By the end of April, we are paying two months; by the end of June, we are paying three months; and by the end of July, we are clearing everything,” he said
