End of strike ‘lies with counties’

Health workers Wednesday stood their ground and vowed to continue pressing for their demands as the national strike entered its 10th day.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia Wednesday morning held talks with representatives of the striking workers, but said the means to ending the current health crisis lay with the governors.

The crisis affected public hospitals as the workers protest against devolution of health services, which will see their salaries paid by governors.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union, the Kenya Health Professionals Union (KHPU), the Kenya National Union of Nurses and the Union of Kenya Clinical Officers (UKCO) yesterday said they would not resume duty until the terms on the table were met.

The country’s public health sector has been driven into the crisis after the trade unions failed to reach an agreement with neither the national nor county governments.

The workers are calling for a systematic way to address the management of health workers.

“The Ministry of Health is only acting as a facilitator of the talks, with the actual stake of ending the health strike being with the governors,” Mr Macharia said.

The county governments hold the key to the end of this strike because they are now the employers of the health workers. If there is any deal, the governors would communicate, Mr Macharia said.

“We are not insensitive and we are in consultation with the parties involved to arrive at a solution with our objective being to make the public health facilities functional once again,” he said adding that the Governors Council was also part of the solution.

According to Mr Macharia, the national government has been paying the health workers’ salaries on agreement that it would be refunded by the County government and by the end of November, the amount to be reimbursed stood at Sh10.3 billion.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Bomet Governor Isaac Rutto said the counties were well structured and ready to manage the health workers in all aspects and warned that those on strike would be sacked and others hired to take over the running of the health facilities.

“We have taken over the running of the health facilities at the county level and we will not turn around on this,” Mr Rutto, who is the chairman of the Governors Council, told the Nation.co.ke.

But the trade unions argue that devolution of the health sector had been rushed due to demands by several governors to have the sector under their management without the necessary systems.
Now the striking workers risk losing their jobs and all benefits should they fail to return to work immediately as directed by the Public Service Commission.

In a stern warning, PSC chairperson Margaret Kobia said the commission would initiate “due process leading to dismissal from service, all striking health personnel with loss of all benefits.

The PSC, she noted, was mandated by the Constitution to terminate the services of the doctors, and accused them of exposing patients to death and suffering and ignoring court orders to end the strike.

As Prof Kobia made the remarks, President Uhuru Kenyatta remained firm that the government would not relent in fully implementing devolution saying should the doctors remain on strike, governors should instill measures to ensure health facilities at the counties remained operational.