Advisor on Health at the Presidency, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare has cautioned striking student nursing and midwifery trainees demanding their unpaid student allowances to keep quiet because the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has been magnanimous to them as compared to the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to the Presidential Adviser, it is far better to have an unpaid allowance than to a cancelled one under the administration of former President John Dramani Mahama.
For nine months now, students in various nursing institutions across the country have not received their allowance as promised by the government that restored the policy cancelled by the previous administration.
However, speaking in an interview with Kumasi based Oyereppa FM monitored by MyNewsGH.com, Dr. Anthony Nsiah Asare insisted that, “the allowance was cancelled and this government decided to restore and pay, so they must have patience on the government…by all means, this government is going to pay”.
“The allowances have been sent to controller and Accountant Generals department for disbursement”, he added.
He maintained that, the Akufo Addo’s government is far better than that of former President John Mahama and his NDC government who cancelled their allowance.
Dr. Nsiah Asare, however, assured the student saying there is no cause of alarm because the government is surely going to pay the allowance but refused to give a deadline as to when it is going to be paid.
When asked if it is better for government to lock up a nine-month allowance than to cancel it, Dr. Nsiah Asare insisted saying, “the previous government cancelled it so it is better now”.