NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 23 – Health unions have blamed county governments for the ongoing nationwide strike by Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers, accusing governors of failing to implement a Sh8.9 billion budget allocation meant to transition thousands of healthcare workers to permanent and pensionable terms.

📻 Breaking It Down

The strike, now in its third day, has seen members of the Health Unions Caucus stage demonstrations in Nairobi, demanding the implementation of employment agreements, issuance of permanent and pensionable appointment letters, inclusion of UHC workers in the July payroll, and the signing of recognition agreements.

The demonstrators marched from Greenpark Terminus to the Nairobi City County Assembly before proceeding to the Council of Governors headquarters, where they called on county governments to implement existing court decisions and national directives on the employment of UHC workers.

Speaking during the demonstrations, Peterson Wachira, National Chairperson of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) and Chairperson of the Health Unions Caucus, faulted governors for what he described as continued inaction despite the availability of funds.

📌 What You Need to Know

“Despite ourselves having demonstrated for more than six months and gotten a budgetary allocation of Sh8.9 billion to confirm the Universal Health Coverage staff on permanent and pensionable terms, the governors have refused to do so. And we say the governors because it is very clear that it’s the County Public Service Boards that are supposed to do this,” Wachira said.

The unions say county governments have ignored court rulings directing them to convert UHC workers’ contracts to permanent and pensionable terms.

Wachira described the strike as a protest against neglect by county administrations.

“This is a strike against neglect, against inaction by the county governments on what they should do, and we are saying that it is a self-indictment on the counties that the weight of the health function has become too heavy for them to bear,” he said.

He argued that poor welfare for health workers directly affects the quality of healthcare services.

“There is no way you would expect somebody to provide quality health when their welfare is not taken care of. This person will be anxious, this person will be stressed, this person will be fatigued, this person is going to have mental clouding. They cannot provide the best quality of care to their patients,” he added.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya