Nurses in Embu boycott work over unpaid allowances

Nurses in Embu have gone on strike protesting against failure by the county government to pay them allowances negotiated in 2016.

The over 600 nurses stormed the Embu County government offices Wednesday afternoon, demanding to be paid Sh12,000 each, which the government agreed to pay them as part of the return to work negotiations in December 2016.

Led by their union’s vice chairman, Joseph Ngwasi, the nurses vowed to boycott work until they were paid the nursing services allowances that were to be included in their January salaries.

In the deal entered on December 20, 2016, the national government and the council of governors agreed to pay the nurses Sh20,000 allowances, which was to be effected in two phases.

In the first phase, Sh12,000 was to be paid in January 2017 and the remaining Sh8,000 is to be effected in July 2017.

“We accepted that as an expression of goodwill to go back to work. As we speak, it is February 8, 2017 and the same has not been paid by the Embu government.

“We are wondering what is wrong with our employer. Why is it hard to pay this amount yet it was released by the Treasury?” posed Mr Ngwasi.

Addressing the striking nurses, county Chief of Staff Henry Nthiga promised them that Governor Martin Wambora would intervene.

He said the county government is working to effect the payment before the end of the month.

However, the nurses vowed to stay put, saying there were so many pending issues, the most urgent being failure by the county government to effect promotions.