The Ministry of Finance has rejected claims that Ghana Education Service (GES) staff recruited in 2024 were employed outside approved financial clearance, insisting that all 6,300 workers covered by its special payment arrangement have been paid.
The Ministry’s position follows comments by Yaw Opoku Mensah, spokesperson for former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, who challenged the claim that the workers were recruited without financial clearance.
Mr. Opoku Mensah said official records showed that financial clearance had been granted for the recruitment and argued that the Finance Ministry needed to review its own records.
“For the avoidance of doubt, not a single person was recruited outside the financial clearance granted in 2024. Every individual recruited had their name and particulars captured on the GES master list,” he said.
He also cited a financial clearance letter issued by the Finance Ministry on May 10, 2024, which authorised the recruitment of 2,000 graduate teachers and directed that the newly recruited teachers be processed onto the mechanised payroll.
However, in a statement dated Tuesday, September 8, the Ministry of Finance explained that the government inherited 6,300 GES staff in 2025 who had been recruited in 2024 without financial clearance.
The Ministry said Cabinet approval was subsequently secured and financial clearance issued in four tranches to address the affected workers’ salary payment concerns.
“The Ministry of finance can confirm that all 6,300 staff covered by this arrangement have been paid,” the statement said.
It further maintained that there are no pending requests from the GES for financial clearance awaiting action by the Finance Ministry.
“The Ministry further clarifies that there are no outstanding requests for financial clearance from the GES awaiting action by the Ministry of Finance,” it stated.
The Ministry advised any staff member who continues to have an unresolved salary or arrears issue to contact the GES for assistance with the relevant payroll or administrative matter.
The dispute centres on the circumstances surrounding the recruitment of GES staff in 2024 and the subsequent delays in placing some workers on the government payroll.
Mr. Opoku Mensah has maintained that the recruitment was backed by financial clearance and that the records can be verified by the relevant state institutions. He accused the current administration of attempting to shift responsibility for the salary challenges onto the previous government.
The Finance Ministry, however, maintains that the 6,300 staff were among workers inherited by the government without financial clearance and that the payment issue under the special arrangement has now been resolved.
