Parliament approves GHc4bn for Health Ministry; minister assures nurses of posting

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang Manu has assured aggrieved nurses that they would be posted once the budget estimate of the ministry has received Parliamentary approval.

Young nurses, both male and female, Tuesday morning besieged the premises of the ministry, insisting that they are posted immediately.

This delayed the minister who appeared in Parliament for his Ministry budget estimate approval, albeit late. Agyemang Manu told the house some of the nurses that have not been posted have been home since 2014.

“I had no option than to grant them audience, cool their tempest and assure them that when the ministry budget is approved, there are certain provisions we have made that will satisfy them, if not fully, partially.”

He acknowledged that “there are problems that have been created, and I don’t think all of them can be resolved immediately, we will have to do them gradually, gradually”.

The sector minister admitted that the previous government did a lot in the health sector by virtue of physical infrastructure investment.

However he observed that some of the projects have still not been completed.

He also told MPs his ministry is indebted to service providers of the National Health Insurance Scheme. He hoped the budget allocation to the ministry would be approved to enable him clear the arrears and undertake a number of projects.

The Chairman of the Health Committee in Parliament, Collins Ntim disclosed that after critical examination of the 2017 budget estimate, the committee hold the view that since the health sector is key in improving the lives of Ghanaians, the House should consider asking the Ministry of Finance to exempt some of the agencies in the sector from the capping to enable them deal with their financial challenges.

Collins Ntim also recommended that the house approved the GHC 4,226,152,354.00 for the activities of the Ministry of Health for the fiscal year 2017, which the house agreed and approved. After the approval, the Minister told Onua news though the issue of posting has been outstanding,, gradually they will be posted.

Meanwhile, budgetary allocation GHC 46,910,275,00 was approved for the Ministry of Youth and Sports and GHC 90,728,106,00 approved for the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department.

Source: 3news