Nursing students across the country are jubilant following the government’s payment of overdue allowances.
A video posted by Accra’s Neat FM on Facebook on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, captures the joyous reactions of several trainees from a nursing college as they celebrate receiving their payments.
In the video, some trainees can be heard expressing their gratitude to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia while showing messages on their phones as proof of the payment of the allowance, commonly referred to as “allawa.”
“Allawa, allawa, allawa. Four more for Bawumia, four more for Bawumia,” one female student could be heard saying as she showed a notification on her phone.
Meanwhile, a nursing student who spoke to GhanaWeb confirmed that some of their arrears have been paid.
She said that second and third-year students in her school have received three months of arrears owed to them for October, November and December of 2023.
She indicated that they have not been paid any of their allowances for 2024.
It can be recalled that Dr. Bawumia, the flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), was confronted by a female final-year nursing student who said she had never received the government allowance (allawa) meant for students during a campaign event in the Bono Region.
“The question I want to ask is, when are we getting our ‘allowance’? Since I started school, I have not received my allowance to date, and I’m in my last semester. Some of us are not even able to pay our school fees.
“Those who are not able to pay their fees would be sacked; they wouldn’t be allowed to write the exams. If the ‘allowance’ had been given to us, they would have been able to pay their fees. So, my question is, when are we getting the allawa?” she asked.
The NPP flagbearer, in his response, promised to take up the issue with the Ministry of Finance.
“I wasn’t sure of where you were with your ‘allowance’, but I think that I will check with the Ministry of Finance immediately after I return. And I will make sure they pay you your ‘allawa’ if it has not been paid,” Bawumia assured.