Parliament witnessed a heated confrontation on Tuesday when the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, and Effiduase Asokore MP, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie, clashed over the accuracy of figures presented in the 2026 budget relating to National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) funds and health worker recruitment.
Dr. Afriyie, the Ranking Member of the Health Committee, accused the government of misrepresenting the true financial position of the NHIA, insisting that actual funds available to the authority were significantly lower than what the Ministry claimed in the budget statement.
“There is a high level of inconsistency in this budget. The NHIA does not have more funds; it has less,” Dr. Afriyie stated during his contribution to the 2026 Budget debate.
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According to the MP, the government’s claim that the NHIA now enjoys uncapped allocations is not supported by the financial breakdown in the budget. He argued that after expected deductions for the MahamaCare Trust Fund, the NHIA’s available funds drop below last year’s release.
He noted: “The stated NHIA allocation is ₵8 billion. The MahamaCare Trust is deducting (20%) GH₵1.6 billion, and the net available amount is ₵6.4 billion. How does this qualify as an increase when last year’s releases were over ₵6.8 billion?” he questioned.
Health Minister’s rebuttal
Health Minister Hon Akandoh challenged the figures, insisting that the MP was misleading the House. According to the minister, the NHIA has already received ₵7.5 billion this year, contrary to the under 4.5 billion cited by Afriyie.
“The numbers he is quoting are totally inaccurate. The NHIA has received far more than he claims,” the minister said.
The disagreement prompted the Speaker of Parliament to intervene, directing both members to submit their documents for formal reconciliation.
The clash escalated when Dr. Afriyie accused the government of inflating the recruitment figures of nurses and midwives. He argued that while the Ministry claimed 13,500 nurses had been added to the payroll in 2025, the number included backlogged recruits from 2020, not newly cleared 2021 or 2022 graduates.
“The 2021 batch is listening to me. None of them has been placed on payroll. You are enjoying old clearance and presenting it as fresh recruitment,” he charged.
The Health Minister refuted the claim and insisted that the Ministry of Finance had already approved new recruitments and directed the Controller and Accountant-General to place the nurses on the payroll.
“How can anyone say no nurses have been engaged? Cabinet approval has been secured, and the process is ongoing,” the minister maintained.
He defended the government’s record, noting that the administration inherited over 44,000 unemployed health workers from the previous regime.