President John Dramani Mahama has reassured nursing trainees in Ghana that all outstanding nursing trainee allowances and arrears will be fully paid beginning January 2026.
The announcement was made on Thursday, May 29, 2025, during his thank-you tour at the College of Health in Kintampo, located in the Bono East Region.
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Addressing an audience of healthcare students and staff, President Mahama acknowledged the long-standing delays in disbursing student allowances and emphasised his administration’s commitment to resolving the issue permanently.
“On the issue of ‘allawa’—let me assure you that the minister has made adequate provision in the budget for the payment of allowances, and the allowances will be paid from January. So you will get the arrears. When we pay the allowances, you will get the arrears,” he stated.
He explained that the disbursement had been delayed due to efforts to overhaul the allowance payment system to ensure transparency and timely payments.
“But what has delayed it is that the minister is putting in a system so that you will be paid through the Comptroller and Accountant General, so that every month when workers receive their salaries, trainees will also receive their allowances,” he added.
The announcement was met with relief and excitement from nursing students and faculty, who welcomed the renewed government commitment to healthcare education funding.
Rising unemployment among health graduates
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has expressed concern over the growing unemployment rate among health professionals in Ghana, attributing part of the problem to the rapid, unregulated expansion of private health training institutions.
This concern follows an appeal from the Parliamentary Committee on Sanitation and Water Resources, urging the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the immediate posting of over 2,000 Environmental Health Officer graduates. These professionals, essential in addressing Ghana’s sanitation crisis, have remained unposted since 2021.
Speaking to Citi FM on Thursday, May 29, 2025, Ministry spokesperson Tony Goodman highlighted the disconnect between graduate output and healthcare job market demands.
He explained that while the Ministry aligns its training programs with regional and national workforce needs, many private institutions continue enrolling large numbers of students without accounting for the realistic employment capacity of Ghana’s public health sector.
