KUCO members staging a protest in Nairobi on Monday. The union declared a fresh strike on October 17 accusing the Ministry of Health of reneging on the commitments it made under a return to work formula signed on October 5, 2017/Maya Aluel
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 5 – The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) is set to move to Parliament on Wednesday in its latest attempt to compel the Ministry of Health to pay some 1,200 intern clinical officers who according to the union are yet to be paid their monthly stipends.
In a petition addressed to the National Assembly Labour Committee, KUCO said the ministry was non-committal on payment of the interns despite having been allocated Sh1.2 billion for the internship program which commenced in May 2019.
The union also faulted Afya House for delaying salary increments for clinical workers under a return to work formula (RTWF) inked on October 5, 2017 for which Sh2.9 billion was allocated under the 2019/20 financial year.
“Despite budgetary allocation of 2.9 billion and an additional 1.2 billion for internship program in the ministry of health, the ministry remains non-committal on payment of diploma clinical officers who undergo a mandatory one-year internship without pay,” the petition seen by Capital FM News on Tuesday reads.
Intern clinical officers are due to complete their year-long internship program in May 2020/Maya Aluel
KUCO Chairperson Peterson Wachira said a meeting with Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache on Monday did not yield any results.
He said the union will now seek the intervention of Parliament, “to ensure Clinical Officers enjoy the labour rights provided for in article 41 of the constitution and to ensure Universal Health Coverage agenda is not curtailed by interruption of services occasioned by inaction of state officers disregard of the law.”
Under the October 2017 RTWF, the Ministry of Health headed by then Cabinet Secretary for Health Cleopa Mailu committed to promote or re-deploy clinical officers to appropriate Job Groups.
KUCO in return called off a strike that lasted three months running from June 16, 2017 to September 15, 2017.
In a petition addressed to the National Assembly Labour Committee, KUCO said the ministry was non-committal on payment of the interns despite having been allocated Sh1.2 billion for the internship program which commenced in May 2019/Maya Aluel
The union declared a fresh strike on October 17 accusing the Ministry of Health of reneging on the commitments it made.
READ: Intern clinical officers launch nationwide strike over unsettled May-Oct pay
According to Wachira, clinical officers are also yet to sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) despite KUCO having submitted a draft in line with guidelines set out under the October 2017 RTWF.
“The Union submitted its draft CBA proposal for negotiation in the last week of November 2017 as agreed upon in the return to work formula,” he KUCO Chairperson states in a petition to the National Assembly.
KUCO registered a dispute with the Ministry of Labour in April 2018 but conciliation talks under the supervision of a ministry-appointed conciliator flopped after two rounds of unsuccessful talks.
