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The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, has disclosed that nine months into President John Dramani Mahama’s administration, ministers, including himself, have not received their salaries.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Wa Central Member of Parliament (MP) explained that the delay was the result of ongoing reforms to the government’s payroll system, describing it as a ‘system of renewal’ aimed at addressing long-term inefficiencies.

‘It’s not that the money isn’t available. We’re trying to resolve the challenges within the entire system so that future payments – for ministers, teachers, and nurses alike – can be made seamlessly,’ he explained.

His comments come as newly recruited nurses and midwives continue to protest over salary arrears. The Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives staged a demonstration in Accra last Thursday, demanding payment for nearly 7,000 members who claim to have worked for about 10 months without pay.

According to the group, while some 6,500 of their colleagues received their salaries in April 2025 following financial clearance and postings in December 2024, thousands remain unpaid despite repeated appeals to the government.

Dr. Pelpuo acknowledged the widespread frustration but maintained that the issue was systemic and affected multiple categories of public servants.

‘Yes, there’s a problem,’ he admitted and added, ‘But it’s not isolated. If ministers get paid and newly employed nurses and teachers don’t, that’s unfair. The solution must be holistic.’

He further explained that Members of Parliament who are not serving as ministers have been receiving their salaries since the parliamentary payroll system is separate and fully functional.

‘But those who are both MPs and ministers fall under the executive payroll, which is still being aligned,’ he said.

When asked whether other Article 71 officeholders outside the executive arm had been paid, Dr. Pelpuo said he could not confirm.

The minister also denied suggestions that the government’s inability to pay was due to a lack of funds. ‘This is not a cash flow problem. It’s a structural reform meant to ensure equity and efficiency across all sectors,’ he insisted.

Meanwhile, President Mahama recently directed all political appointees to donate one month of their salary to the MahamaCares Medical Trust Fund, a new initiative aimed at supporting the medical needs of vulnerable Ghanaians.

The directive was announced at the launch of the Code of Conduct for Political Appointees at the Jubilee House on May 5, 2025.

‘All appointees are to contribute one month’s salary to the MahamaCares Fund,’ the President stated. ‘This is a modest gesture to help those in medical need.’

The directive applies to ministers, deputy ministers, presidential staffers, chief executives of state institutions, board members, and other political appointees under the executive arm.

Additionally, the President warned that any government appointee who failed to declare assets by the extended deadline of May 7, 2025, would forfeit four months of salary – one month as a contribution to the MahamaCares Fund and three months as penalty for missing the earlier March 31 deadline.

In a related revelation, Dr. Pelpuo alleged that the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration left behind about 12,000 newly recruited but unpaid public sector workers, creating an additional burden for the incoming government.

He said the inherited payroll backlog, coupled with the ongoing system overhaul, has complicated efforts to regularise payments to all affected categories of workers.

‘The transition came with its own challenges,’ he said. ‘We’re working to fix what we met – not just for political appointees, but for everyone on the government payroll.’

Ghana will bid a final farewell to one of its greatest musical icons as the late highlife legend Daddy Lumba is laid to rest on December 6, 2025, in Kumasi. The burial will follow a grand funeral ceremony at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, where thousands are expected to gather in honour of the man whose music defined generations.

The announcement was made via the official Instagram page of the musician, born Charles Kwadwo Fosu, who passed away on July 26, 2025, at the Bank Hospital after a short illness. He was 60.

News of his death sent shockwaves across the nation, triggering an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans, colleagues, and statesmen – including current and former presidents.

In August, the Creative Arts Agency, in partnership with the Fosu family, organised a moving national candlelight vigil at the Independence Square. The vigil, held on August 2, saw thousands of mourners light candles and sing his classics, while simultaneous tributes took place in Germany, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, and across Ghana.

A one-week memorial followed on August 30 at the same venue, drawing a star-studded and politically diverse crowd. Among those in attendance were former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and former MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.

The event was filled with heartfelt performances of Daddy Lumba’s timeless hits – including Aben Wo Ha, Sika Asem, and Theresa – songs that continue to echo through Ghana’s cultural memory.

As the nation prepares for his final journey in December, one thing is clear: Daddy Lumba’s music will live forever, even as the legend himself ‘goes home.’

MATTHEW Opoku Prempeh, the 2024 running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is confident the party will recapture political power in 2028, and return the country back to the path of prosperity.

Without mincing words, he stated emphatically that all the five NPP presidential aspirants are competent and far better than anyone that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) will present as their flagbearer for the crucial election.

Dr. Prempeh, nicknamed as ‘Napo’, described the NPP’s shocking electoral defeat in 2024 as just a temporary setback, stating categorically that the party learnt its lessons, and would therefore bounce back stronger in 2028.

According to Napo, he would willingly, wholeheartedly and actively campaign for any of the five candidates that the electorates would eventually settle on as NPP flagbearer on January 31, 2026, urging other party members to do so.

‘Any of the five NPP presidential candidates is much better than what the NDC can ever offer Ghana. So I’m much prepared to work for any candidate that will be elected as the NPP flagbearer,’ he stressed.

Napo was speaking during the NPP Manchester Youth Wing Conference in the United Kingdom (UK), which was under theme ‘A formidable youth wing, ready for power’. The event was graced by NPP members in the UK and beyond.

Touching on the outcome of the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, he said, ‘Defeat is nothing but a lesson. How you learn the lesson and how you practice, will determine whether you will win or fail in your next match.’

According to him, the NPP has realised its shortfalls, which denied the party victory in 2024, promising that with unity and oneness, the NPP can strategise and campaign effectively to wrest political power from the ruling NDC.

‘The 2024 lessons have been learnt, it’s painful. Defeat cannot break our backbone. Don’t let the 2024 defeat paralyze you,’ Napo advised his party members, stating emphatically that the NPP would surely win power in 2028.

According to Napo, what the NPP needs most in order to win the next elections is total unity, ‘and that’s why I started a unity campaign immediately we lost the 2024 elections, because I know that with unity, we can recapture power.’

He pointed out that some aggrieved NPP members decided not to cast their ballots in 2024, and that helped the NDC to win power, saying that the ‘NDC didn’t win the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections, NPP lost the polls.’

Napo stated that the youth have a major and crucial role to play to help the NPP to realise its ambitions of recapturing political power in 2028, urging the NPP youth to make themselves available and work assiduously for the party.

‘Coordinate your TESCON activities because a vibrant TESCON will make our work easier,’ he admonished. ‘Don’t get yourself in unnecessary camps, your camp is NPP camp so don’t let anybody buy your conscience,’ he advised.

Napo also urged the NPP youth to defend and promote the party on social media platforms, saying, ‘The youth wing should be active on social media. One of the core duties of the youth is to fight for the party but not individuals.’

We visit the hospital and consult a doctor when we fall sick. But when our animals: goats, chickens, cows, donkeys, dogs, fowls and even fish that feed and sustain millions of families are sick? They also have doctors: veterinary surgeons, or veterinary doctors. They complete the same demanding six (6) years at university as their human medicine counterparts, followed by a mandatory year of housemanship. Upon graduation, they bear the title Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), and their contribution is just as critical to the health of human beings as that of animals.

Veterinary medicine is not about animals; it’s about protecting humans. Experiments have established that more than 60% of all infectious diseases in human beings have originated from animals, and more than 75% of new and emerging diseases (such as monkeypox, Ebola, COVID-19, and avian influenza) originate in animals before they spill over to the human population.

That is, with each vaccine each veterinary doctor gives to a dog, checks meat, conducts samples in the laboratory, or manages tsetse flies, they are indirectly safeguarding families, society, and the nation at large.

All the same, however, Ghanaian veterinary doctors are undervalued, underpaid, and under-equipped. This has precipitated a crisis that threatens not only animal health but also public health, food security, and national development.

Ghanaian Veterinary Doctors/Position

Ghanaian veterinary doctors are mostly recruited by the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS) and deployed to work under the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. They serve in district and regional offices, border posts, laboratories, and Disease investigation farms across Ghana. They have numerous responsibilities:

Public health protection: Prevention of zoonotic infections such as rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, avian influenza, monkeypox, among others.

Trypanosomiasis and tsetse fly control: Minimising animal losses and sleeping sickness in humans.

Aquatic animal health protection: Protecting the emerging aquaculture industry from bacterial, fungal, and parasitic diseases.

Wildlife health management: Tracking diseases that spill over from wild animals to humans, such as Ebola and coronaviruses.

Food safety and meat inspection: Providing and ensuring safe meat, milk, fish, and egg supplies.

Quarantine and border control: Keeping dangerous animal diseases such as African swine fever out at Ghana’s borders.

Laboratory surveillance, research and testing: Detecting outbreaks early so that they can be stopped in their tracks.

Helping agriculture and the economy: Safeguarding livestock and fish industries, supporting livelihoods for millions.

When veterinary doctors execute their role appropriately, the whole health system benefits. Rabies vaccination in dogs, for example, prevents more than 95% of human rabies deaths. Control of brucellosis in animals prevents a chronic, disabling disease in people. And for every US$1 invested in animal health, the country saves up to US$5 on human health costs.

A Workforce in Crisis

Despite their critical role, veterinary doctors in Ghana face bleak working conditions. An entry-level veterinary doctor earns about GHS 4,000 a month (ie is salary plus critical professional shortage allowance), far less than their medical counterparts in the Ghana Health Service, even though both professions require the same years of training and mandatory housemanship. Unlike human doctors, veterinary doctors receive no allowances for housing, call duty, fuel, clothing, or professional development. There are no tax incentives to help them procure vehicles or essential equipment.

This poor remuneration and lack of incentives have caused a dangerous brain drain. Between 2022 and 2024, Ghana lost more than 35 veterinary doctors to opportunities abroad. At the same time, about 68 young veterinary doctors on government payroll continued to carry the weight of critical national functions at district and regional clinics, entry points, farms, and laboratories. Ghana only resumed employment of veterinary doctors in 2019 after a long 18-year break due to the absence of foreign-trained veterinary doctors. This forced the government to re-engage tired retirees to hold the fort. Now that young professionals are available since Ghana started training Veterinary Doctors with its first batch inducted in 2017, the nation is losing them again, this time to neglect.

The economic loss is significant. Training a veterinary doctor requires state investment in education, housemanship, and infrastructure. When they leave, Ghana not only loses this investment but also loses vital expertise. The country then relies on costly external consultants or overstretched retirees, an approach that is unsustainable for long-term development.

Human Impact of Neglect

The cost of under-funding veterinary services is not an abstraction, but a living reality. Each unchecked case of rabies risks killing a child through a dog bite. Each unquicked warning of bird flu threatens the poultry industry and the incomes of hundreds of thousands of farmers. Each failure to control tsetse flies eats away at cattle, drains meat and milk supplies, and drives rural communities further into poverty.

Aquaculture, the fastest-growing industry in Ghana, is also vulnerable to risk without veterinary control. Fish disease not only cuts down production but also leaves consumers to battle with hazardous products. Under the wildlife sector, uncontrolled diseases such as Ebola or coronaviruses would ignite future pandemics.

In short, veterinary doctors are the line defenders of public health, food security, and economic development. To neglect them is not only unjust, it’s risky.

Labour Relations and Fairness

To add injury to insult, even veterinary doctors have been left out of labour issues. For example, while the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) deducts funds as association dues from veterinary doctors’ salaries, they were left out of some allowances that were negotiated for, which made them feel abandoned. These paradoxes go ahead to demoralise an already demotivated staff that is lagging when it comes to compensation and appreciation.

A Call to Action

The Ghanaian veterinary doctors’ case must be acted upon right away. It is more about the survival of our public health sector and food security rather than justice. Government and stakeholders need to:

Ensure that veterinary compensation is brought to a level similar to medical doctors in the Ghana Health Service.

Create a cadred recruitment pipeline so that newly qualified veterinary doctors can be integrated into the Civil Service in good time.

Give incentive packages such as housing, risk, fuel, professional allowances, and vehicle and equipment tax relief.

Place veterinary work not only as an agriculture subsector but as a frontline public health sector under the One Health policy.

Conclusion

Veterinary Doctors are not only animal doctors: public health sentinels, food safety officials, border guards, and economic facilitators. Without them, Ghana is in danger of more zoonotic outbreaks, food safety catastrophes, and declining poultry, livestock and fish industries.

If Ghana were to invest in and equitably compensate its veterinary workers, the nation would not only be saving human health expenses but also protecting the health, livelihood, and future of its citizens. It is time.

Veterinarians are Ghana’s quiet guardians of health, food, and prosperity. It is time we gave them the recognition and the investment they deserve.

The 2025 Ghana Teacher Prize 1st Runner-Up, Sabina Ferguson-Haizel – a Kindergarten Teacher at Archbishop Andoh Roman Catholic Basic School in Tema – has expressed heartfelt appreciation to Prudential Bank for sponsoring her award.

Ferguson-Haizel received a brand-new 4×4 pickup truck in recognition of her outstanding dedication to teaching at the national ceremony held in Ho.

Speaking after receiving the award, an elated Sabina said, ‘I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to Prudential Bank for this incredible award. This vehicle will greatly enhance my mobility, allowing me to reach more learners and communities. I am deeply thankful for the Bank’s recognition of our hard work.’

This year’s event marked the sixth consecutive time Prudential Bank has sponsored the award, reaffirming its ongoing commitment to supporting education in the country.

The ceremony featured several distinguished guests, including Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who praised teachers for their hard work, resilience, and sacrifices in nurturing generations of learners.

Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, also commended teachers for their invaluable contribution to national development and reaffirmed the government’s pledge to strengthen teacher support systems and improve conditions of service.

Other notable awardees included Richard W. Tiimob of Savelugu Senior High School, who was named the Most Outstanding Teacher and received a three-bedroom house; Leticia Yawa Akabutoo of St. Catherine SHS, who took home a saloon car as second runner-up; Emmanuel Kofi Otchere-Larbi, recognised as Outstanding College Lecturer and recipient of a 4×4 vehicle; Michael Mensah Annang, who won Best in Leadership and Administration and received a saloon car; and Gifty Kwakoa Afari, who also received a saloon car as Best Non-Teaching Staff.

The Ministry of Education congratulated all teachers for their role in nation-building and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting them in delivering quality education to every Ghanaian child.

The Ghana Teacher Prize Awards celebrate the dedication, excellence, and service of teachers across the country.

The nation’s capital was once more saddled with a disruptive and somewhat unexpected four-hour downpour which saw residents and motorists inconvenienced in varied ways.

The accompanying traffic congestion was disturbing as it left commuters standing by roadside in search of the available transport opportunities.

The disruption once more reminded us about our vulture attitude to such weather patterns. The vulture decides to build a nest only when the rains are falling. Like the scavenger bird, we too as Ghanaians take decisions about the fallouts from deluges only to assign them to the shelves when the rains subside.

Accra has witnessed many disruptive downpours, some of them fatal.

Perhaps the most disruptive and perilous was the June 3, 2015 Circle disaster which left in its trail deaths and destructions; the most destructive in living memories.

Last Tuesday’s deluge was unexpected to many who do not understand the intricacies of climate change, because for such persons the peak of the raining season is over as we approach the middle of October. Although the season can be described as minor raining season, it does not usually come with such intensity as witnessed a few days ago. Last Tuesday’s deluge was climate change induced given the intensity.

The reality of climate change for us in Ghana remains an academic issue, discourse about which remains within the confines of academics. For policy makers in government circles, the opportunity the subject brings is travelling abroad to partake in international conferences on climate change. As for the implementation of decisions arrived at such meetings, next to nothing is done about them.

Even the fundamental response to destructive downpours such as addressing the challenges posed by poor or no proper drainage systems in the nation’s capital, including unacceptable construction along waterways, they remain Utopian.

The political will to enforce construction bylaws is lacking, a situation which has bedeviled successive governments.

Following the destruction of June 3, 2015 occasioned by the floods in the Circle area of Accra, recommendations were made to obviate future recurrences. The beautifully bound publication is resting on the shelves of the relevant ministry.

We recall the Greater Accra Resilient and Integrated Development (GARID), news about which elated many an Accra resident because it was touted as a solution to the perennial flooding in Accra.

Following a cabinet approval for a US $200 million credit facility for the project, signs of commencement of work were visible, especially after the then Minister of Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that the project would commence immediately the facility received parliamentary approval.

The project, which should have been spearheaded by four relevant ministries, is stillborn even as the threats of flooding and its attendant dangers remain real.

Residents continue to show uncaring attitude towards the environment, especially the consequences of construction along waterways and dumping refuse into already choked gutters.

President John Dramani Mahama has approved the appointment of Musah Ahmed as the new Judicial Secretary into the Judicial Service of Ghana with immediate effect.

The President was acting on the advice of the Judicial Council and in accordance with Article 148 of the 1992 Constitution.

Mr. Ahmed was sworn-in yesterday, October 8, 2025 as the new Judicial Secretary by the Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.

He takes over from Deputy Judicial Secretary, Dr. Cyracus B. Bapuuroh, who has since April 2025, been acting in the capacity of Judicial Secretary.

By his appointment, Mr. Ahmed becomes the 17th Judicial Secretary since the First Republic. He is a private legal practitioner with over 25 years of legal experience.

As Chief Executive Officer of Ahmed Legal Consult, he has specialties in Maritime Law, Commercial Law, Constitutional Law, Land Law and International Law, having provided legal advisory services to Diplomatic Missions including the Embassies of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait, as well as corporate and traditional institutions.

Mr. Ahmed once served as the Vice-Chairman of the Hajj Board and a contributor to key rule of law and institutional development initiatives.

As a founding member of the Legal Resource Centre, he contributed to expanding access to justice and strengthening institutional capacity. His accolades include the B. J. da Rocha Prize, alongside published work on cyber security, parliamentary immunity and natural resource governance.

He brings to his practice, strong legal drafting skills, sharp analytical thinking and a fluency in technology.

Mr. Ahmed holds an LL.M in National Security Law from the University of Ghana (2023), having earned his LL.B with Honours from the same university in 1997, followed by a Qualifying Certificate from the Ghana School of Law in 1999, where he emerged as Best Student in Advocacy and Legal Ethics.

As an active member of the Ghana Bar Association, American Bar Association and National Bar Association (Washington, D.C.), Mr. Ahmed is guided by the values of integrity, excellence and service.

He is expected to bring these values to bear on his role as the Judicial Secretary.

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has scheduled Friday, October 10, 2025, for the balloting of positions for aspirants ahead of its presidential primary on January 31, 2026.

In a letter signed by William Yamoah, Secretary to the NPP Presidential Elections Committee, all five aspirants vying to lead the party into the 2028 general election have been invited to participate in the balloting exercise, which will be held at the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra.

‘The Chairman of the Committee has directed me to extend an invitation for your participation in a balloting process to determine your positions on the ballot paper for the upcoming January 31 presidential primary,’ the letter read.

The balloting follows the successful completion of the vetting process in September, during which all five aspirants were cleared to contest for the flagbearer slot.

The vetting, described by the party as rigorous and highly transparent, assessed the aspirants’ track records, vision, and commitment to the NPP’s core values over the years.

Among those cleared to contest are former General Secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, who has campaigned on internal party reform, youth empowerment, and restoring discipline within the party; former Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, who has promised to promote industrialisation and fight corruption; and Dr. Bryan Acheampong, former Minister for Agriculture, who has focused his campaign on modernising agriculture, ensuring food security, and creating sustainable jobs for the youth, especially in rural areas.

Others include Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Vice President, who many tip to win the party’s presidential primary, and Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, former Minister of Education, widely credited for transforming the country’s education and skills development sectors.

Some political observers believe that Dr. Bawumia, who also served as the NPP’s presidential candidate in the 2024 elections, remains the frontrunner due to his record in digitalisation and economic transformation, despite the party’s poor performance in the 2024 polls.

According to party officials, the January 2026 presidential primary will be a pivotal moment in the NPP’s preparations for the 2028 general election, as the party seeks to regain power from the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The Presidential Elections Committee has assured party members and the general public of a free, fair, and transparent process in the lead-up to the primary, as aspirants intensify their nationwide campaigns to share their vision with delegates.

Meanwhile, the NPP has urged all supporters to remain united and respectful throughout the campaign period, emphasising that the ultimate goal is to strengthen the party’s chances of winning the 2028 elections.