12 Institutions Threaten Strike
By Gifty Boateng
The Mahama administration is grappling with a widening payroll crisis that has left ministers, deputy ministers, and CEOs unpaid for nine months, while over a dozen public sector institutions prepare to down tools in protest over salary delays and stalled recruitment.
Employment and Labour Relations Minister Dr Rashid Pelpuo confirmed that Article 71 office holders including cabinet ministers have not received salaries since assuming office. “We are not complaining because it is unusual for you to complain,” Pelpuo said, adding that the issue stems from systemic flaws in the payroll architecture rather than a lack of funds.
The silence from affected ministers, he noted, is deliberate—intended to avoid public backlash at a time when nurses, junior doctors, and midwives are staging demonstrations over unpaid wages.
Pelpuo blamed the crisis on the previous administration’s failure to secure financial clearance for over 12,000 health professionals recruited in late 2024. The current government inherited a three-month budget that excluded these new hires, leaving a gaping hole in the wage bill.
“The rot in the economy is deeper than people realise,” Pelpuo said, echoing President Mahama’s recent remarks describing the country as a “crime scene.”
More than 12 institutions have formally notified the Labour Ministry of their intent to strike unless salary arrangements are improved. Pelpuo admitted the government faces a dilemma: whether to increase salaries for existing workers or absorb thousands of unemployed graduates into the system.
“It’s the same budget we are running,” he said. “Are we satisfying those already employed or recruiting more? It’s a huge thing we are tackling.”
The Minister outlined plans for a “resetting agenda” to overhaul the employment and payroll system, streamline bureaucratic processes, and eliminate fraud. He called for an end to the practice of last-minute recruitment by outgoing governments, which he said burdens successors with unfunded liabilities.
Until the system is reformed, Pelpuo warned, newly employed professionals will continue to suffer delays and uncertainty. “We need a complete overhaul not to blame anyone, but to reignite a system that responds to the realities we face.”
With public patience wearing thin and strike threats multiplying, the government’s ability to resolve the crisis before year-end will be a key test of its administrative credibility and political resilience.