The Minister for Transport, Joseph Bukari Nikpe, has announced that the Ministry of Finance has released the final tranche of funds to clear outstanding salary arrears owed to railway workers across the country.
He made the disclosure after appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in Ada, where he addressed concerns about delays in salary payments within the railway sector.
According to him, the arrears accumulated because the railway system has been largely non-operational since 2023, making it impossible for the sector to generate revenue to support staff salaries and statutory obligations.
“Because they were not operational since 2023, they are set up to work, pay themselves and pay dividends to the state,” he explained.
“And because they were not in operation, they couldn’t pay themselves, nor could they pay any dividend to the state,” he added.
Mr. Nikpe noted that government intervention, under the directive of President John Dramani Mahama, has already resulted in several partial payments to affected workers over the past months.
“Through the directive of the President, in December, we paid them almost five months or four months each, their salaries that were owed,” he said.
He further revealed that an additional four months of arrears were paid about two months ago, with arrangements now in place to settle the remaining balance.
“As we speak, the Minister for Finance has released money for us to do the last payment for the railway workers,” he stated.
The Transport Minister, however, explained that the funds must first go through the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department before final disbursement can be made.
“It has to go through the Controller, and all processes have to be followed before the money is released to the Ministry of Transport for payment,” he noted.
Mr. Nikpe assured railway workers that they had been kept informed throughout the process and reiterated government’s commitment to clearing all outstanding arrears.
“And all the railway workers are aware at the stage at which we are, that the release is done by the Ministry of Finance and it is at the Controller,” he said.
He expressed optimism that the remaining arrears, estimated at between five and six months, would soon be fully settled.
“The moment the Controller finishes and it is released, we are going to pay the rest of the workers. We will pay between five and six months, and that would have brought some kind of relief to us,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nikpe also assured the public that the government’s newly procured 100 buses would soon be deployed to improve public transport services, particularly during peak hours.
He explained that the delay in putting the buses into operation is due to ongoing administrative and technical processes, including registration, inspection, driver training, and servicing.
“If you have a number of buses up to 100 and you bring them into the system, they have to be registered. They have to go through all the inspections,” he noted.