Choose between one who sometimes owes and one who can't pay at all – Okoe Boye on trainee allowance

Health Minister Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye has urged nursing trainees to support President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's administration, despite the yet-to-be-cleared arrears of their allowances.

Speaking during the presentation of a bus donation to Lekma Hospital on May 20, 2024, Dr. Okoe Boye highlighted the government's efforts to clear outstanding payments and contrasted this with the previous administration's stance on trainee allowances.

"There are thousands of nurses who have had allowances paid to them by this government. But it is also true that there are others whose payments are in arrears. We have decided to work hard to sustain and to pay these arrears.

“You have to choose between the one who says I will pay you, pays you, and sometimes owes you, and the other one who says that me I can’t pay these things at all,” he said when he was asked about the status of the trainee's allowances.

The Health Minister criticized the former administration led by John Mahama, asserting that it failed to provide any allowances to nursing trainees.

"If you had the other government led by John Mahama for the past eight years, it would be zero for all nurses in Ghana.

"But as we speak, hundreds of thousands of nurses have had support from the Akufo-Addo government and it is true that there are hundreds of thousands who are calling for theirs to come,” he asserted.

Dr. Okoe-Boye reassured the trainees that the government is committed to resolving the issue and ensuring that all outstanding allowances are paid.

"We will work hard to make sure that everybody receives what is due them. This is the kind of government to support, the one who says I will shoulder this trouble. I will shoulder this burden. I will work hard to sustain it," he added.

"I have sighted communique from the Ministry through the Ministry of Finance showing that we paid some GH¢177 million for over one hundred thousand nurses covering some four months of payments," he noted.

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia was recently confronted by a nursing trainee over the status of their allowances. He assured that payments will be made late last week.

Accra-based TV3, however, reports that some trainees have denied receiving the said transfers despite Bawumia's assurances.

AM/SARA

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