The Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees’ Association (GNMTA), says government is attempting to throw dust into their eyes by commencing what it calls the payment of cancelled allowances in another form.
The Ministry of Health in statement on Thursday said it has started payment of decreased nurses’ trainee allowances for the period of October to December. The statement also said each trainee nurse will receive a one-off pay of four hundred and fifty Ghana cedis.
But speaking to , the President of the Ghana Nurses and Midwives Trainees Association, Godwin Asabire Akazeem, said government is only playing politics with the matter since the terms of payment is still unclear
“You realise that this allowance that they said is restoration, the sustainability of the programme too is in question. As to whether they are paying from July and September on table top, the rest of the month’s allowance is also going to be on table top or what. We don’t even know whether we should call this an allowance because his excellency, the President of Ghana said we are restoring your allowance, and then the spokesperson will tell you they are paying you updated monies so what is updated monies and what is allowance?
“So they should tell us the truth as to whether this one is a restoration of allowance and if it is a restoration of allowance, they should bring document on paper that should guide subsequent governments as to what they are suppose to do with regards to the payment.”
Trainee nurses have protested the withdrawal of the allowances, forcing government to introduce a temporay allowance until the trainees are fully migrated onto the students’ loan scheme.
The Ministry of Health statement announcing the resumption of the payment on Thursday said, “the untaxed amount is One Hundred and Fifty Ghana Cedis (GHC150.00) per student for three months, making a total amount of Four Hundred and Fifty Ghana Cedis (GHC450.00) per student.” The Ministry also indicated that, the payment of these allowances is to “serve as a bridging mechanism pending the amendment of the Students Loan Trust Act, to enable Students in Non tertiary Health Training Institutions access Loans.”
Government’s decision to pay the current allowances has largely been viewed as a ploy to woo voters ahead of the elections.
But speaking at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s presidential encounter series on, President Mahama refuted claims of a contradiction, explaining that while the government worked towards the law to allow the migration of trainee nurses onto the Students’ Loan Trust Fund, there was a need to keep paying the allowance.
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has promised to restore the allowance to both trainee teachers and nurses, says government’s U-turn is merely a trick for votes ahead of the elections.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
