Doctors and nurses to get paid, Governor James Ongwae says
Kisii Governor James Ongwae, the chairman of the Human Resource, Labour and Social Welfare Committee at the Council of Governors, has said counties had received money from Nairobi to pay doctors and nurses for the 100 days they were on strike. PHOTO | BENSON MOMANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
On Wednesday, Kisii Governor James Ongwae said county governments have received the funds from the Ministry of Health.
Mr Ongwae, who is chairman of the Human Resource, Labour and Social Welfare Committee at the Council of Governors, said counties have been waiting for the funds from the ministry and will now disburse it at end of the month.
Doctors and nurses will at the end of this month receive their salaries and allowances for the 100 days they were on strike.
On Wednesday, Kisii Governor James Ongwae said county governments had received the money from the Ministry of Health.
Mr Ongwae, the chairman of the Human Resource, Labour and Social Welfare Committee at the Council of Governors, said counties had been waiting for the money from the Health ministry and will now disburse it at end of the month.
“Doctors should not worry because at the end of this month, their money will have been disbursed,” he said.
He spoke as his Tharaka-Nithi counterpart Samuel Ragwa assured doctors in his county that his administration was processing the salaries and that they would be paid out by end of the week.
RETURN-TO-WORK DEAL
The county boss said governors were willing to pay doctors as stated in the return-to-work formula but there had been no money.
On Tuesday, Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu showed a Sh3.2 billion payment made to county governments to pay the salaries.
The ministry also allocated an additional Sh1.73 billion to cover allowances for about 24,000 doctors.
Dr Mailu also issued a directive to counties to pay doctors their salaries, including those that were withheld when they were on strike.
Governor Ongwae acknowledged that most counties had received the money.
Dr Mailu warned counties against diverting the money to other uses. “All counties were given the money for personal emoluments and they should pay all pending salaries... you cannot use the money on anything else. It is for staff.”
