Pay allowances of trainee teachers and nurses- Mahama to gov't

Former President John Mahama and National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential hopeful has asked president Akufo-Addo to fulfil his campaign promise to restore the

"By God’s grace you have come, now pay the trainees. You promised and so you must fulfill it. Promises are meant to be fulfilled and so the teacher trainee allowances, the nursing training allowances, you promised that you will pay, so go ahead and pay,” he said on Friday at Ada in the Greater Accra region.

The cancellation of the allowance in 2015 sparked fury among trainee nurses and teachers in the country.

Candidate Akufo-Addo pledged to restore it if he is elected president.

The allowance was restored in 2017 but the payment of the allowance has for sometime now been in arrears.

In October, the government released GHS 38m to clear the arrears, according to the Deputy Minister of Information, Pius Hadzide.

A total of GHC60 million was released by the Controller and Accountant General to settle the arrears.

The restoration of teacher trainee allowances was one of the main promises of then candidate Akufo-Addo in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo upon assuming office in 2017, kept his promise and restored the allowances effective September 2017 to the joy of the trainee nurses who had complained about the hardships they faced without those funds.