VOI, Kenya, Mar 10 — The Health sector in Taita-Taveta County is reeling following a protracted go-slow by hundreds of health workers who are protesting the delays for January and February salaries.
On Wednesday, enraged workers held a peaceful demonstration to protest what they are terming as neglect of the welfare of the health sector’s officers by the health department. The workers also looped in the officers of County Public Service Board (CPSB) who have been working on their promotions.
The demonstrations brought together members of several unions including Kenya Medical Practitioners, Kenya Union of Laboratory Technicians, Kenya Medical Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).
Speaking at the CPSB Offices in Voi Sub-County during the presentation of a petition to county public service officials, Mr. Richard Nyamu, KNUN secretary-general, said delayed payments had demoralized workers and risked affecting their productivity.
He stated that health workers have been grappling for ages with the issues of delayed payments with no major efforts being taken to come up with a permanent solution.
“A healthcare worker who is demoralized cannot perform optimally. We appreciate that the board has acknowledged our petition but actualisation of deliberated solutions is where the problem lies,” said Nyamu.
The workers had raised five issues that they wanted addressed. They included payment of salaries on time, activation of NHIF cover which had expired in January and regular supply of pharmaceutical products to hospitals. Other issues were promotions and re-designation of health workers and conversion of workers’ terms of employment from contractual to permanent and pensionable.
KMPDU regional official Dr Richard Wangai expressed concerns over the lack of comprehensive medical cover for workers after the NHIF cover expired on January 23.
“We are in a very sensitive department and our workers need to be safeguarded in terms of healthcare as well as their salaries,” he said.
The doctor added that health workers had resorted to protest due to the County administration’s failure to take their strike notice seriously and failure to give them an audience.
“As KMPDU, protests are always a last resort. We prefer having dialogue with the employer so as to have an amicable solution to our issues,” he said.
The sentiments were echoed by Ms. Halma Hassan, Vice Secretary of KNUN in the County who said union officials have struggled to seek audience from the administration in vain.
However, CPSB Chair Alfred Mlolwa refuted the claims accusing the union officials of boycotting meetings and invitations to the board.
“We have been inviting the officials but they haven’t come. We need to work together to solve the problems. We have made significant milestones in terms of human resource matters affecting the health department,” he said.
The board further said the salary delays were caused by late release of funds by the exchequer. The board and health department promised to pay January salaries before the end of the week after receiving county allocation from the national government.
On Thursday, the officials from finance and health departments were summoned by the County Assembly for grilling over the demonstrations and the go-slow that have affected service delivery in the region.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health John Mwakima said the department had addressed most of the issues of concern and was working on the pending few.
He accused the union officials of frustrating efforts to resolve the impasse so that they could actualize their demonstrations.
“We invited the officials on Monday to update them on the progress of the salary issue. Only officials from the Clinical Officers’ Union turned up,” he said.
His counterpart in Finance Kubo Mlawasi said the formation of hospital boards to run the affairs of the hospitals will see marked improvement in service delivery.
