The Ministry of Finance has rejected claims that Ghana Education Service (GES) staff recruited in 2024 were employed without the required financial clearance, insisting that all 6,300 staff members covered under a special payment arrangement have now been paid.
The clarification follows comments by Yaw Opoku Mensah, spokesperson for former Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who disputed the Finance Ministry’s account of the 2024 GES recruitment.
Mr Opoku Mensah maintained that official records show that financial clearance was granted for the recruitment and argued that the Ministry of Finance should review its records.
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“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 cited a financial clearance letter issued by the Ministry of Finance on May 10, 2024, authorising the recruitment of 2,000 graduate teachers and directing that the newly recruited teachers be processed onto the mechanised payroll.
In a statement dated Tuesday, September 8, the Ministry of Finance said the government inherited 6,300 GES staff in 2025 who had been recruited in 2024 without financial clearance.
According to the Ministry, Cabinet subsequently approved the arrangement, after which it issued financial clearance in four tranches to address the salary payment challenges affecting the workers.
“The Ministry of Finance can confirm that all 6,300 staff covered by this arrangement have been paid,” the statement said.
The Ministry also insisted that the GES has no outstanding requests for financial clearance awaiting action.
“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 Finance Ministry advised any affected GES staff member who continues to experience salary or arrears issues to contact the Ghana Education Service.
It said such cases may relate to specific payroll or administrative matters requiring attention from the GES.
The development comes amid renewed debate over the circumstances surrounding the recruitment of GES staff in 2024 and the subsequent delays in placing some of the workers on the government payroll.
Mr Opoku Mensah has maintained that the 2024 recruitment was conducted under valid financial clearance and that the relevant records can be verified by the appropriate state institutions.
He has also accused the current administration of attempting to shift responsibility for the salary challenges onto the previous government.
The Finance Ministry, however, has stood by its position that the 6,300 workers were among employees inherited in 2025 who had been recruited without financial clearance.
The Ministry says the special arrangement put in place to resolve the payment challenge has now been completed, with all 6,300 affected staff paid.