According to the Association, the Vice President's pledge to pay about 13 months of their arrears has not materialized.
In an interview in Accra, Pascal Adombillah, the President of GNMTA, expressed frustration over the delay in the payment of their allowances.
"For now, we have not had any updates regarding the allowance. The thing is that there is usually a clear-cut communication about the payment, that is, the date the allowance will be paid to our members. When you look at it, I would say we have had enough of this. Even the Vice President, in his statement, indicated that the allowance was supposed to be paid on Thursday. We have not had any information or updates regarding the payment. We have not had any update on whether the money was released to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department for the students to be paid."
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, on May 14, disclosed that the government would clear all the outstanding debts to nursing trainees.
He announced that the Ministry of Finance had approved a sum of one hundred and seventy-seven million Ghana cedis to be disbursed to trainee nurses across the country.
Speaking at a meeting with nurses and midwives in Accra, Dr. Bawumia said, "This Thursday, the Controller is transferring GH¢177 million to the Ministry of Health to pay the nursing training allowances. So I have also alerted Dr. Okoe-Boye to be on standby when the money hits the Ministry of Health account; they should move it quickly to the accounts of the nursing trainees so that they will have their alawa. It will drop."
Despite these assurances, the GNMTA is still awaiting the promised funds and calls for prompt action to fulfill the Vice President's commitment.