Former President of Ghana and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has described the current government’s decision to pay nurses and teacher trainee allowances as a 419 scam.

He says even though the government has brought back the allowances, it is struggling to pay, something which could have been avoided.

Mahama believes that the government should have rather focused on access to nursing and teacher training education.

“We know the problems with trainee nurses, and that is why when we were in government, we said we were going to substitute your allowances with the student loan. That is because we wanted to create more employment for you. The important thing is not the allowance but to get the job when you finish school. Somebody came and said he will pay the allowances, not knowing it was 419,” the former president said.

The former president noted that the government owes for over 30 months, which it must pay since it promised the students.