Governors say they won't pay doctors for strike period

Governors on Thursday vowed not pay doctors’ salaries for the period they were on strike.

The decision, the governors said, was in line with the directive given by Health Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri asking them not to release salaries for work not done.

The doctors, who last week signed a return to work agreement ending their 100-day strike, have been agitating for the remittance of the salaries saying it was part of the deal.

Their union had given the ministry of Health up to Thursday to withdraw its communication to county governments that doctors who participated in the 100-days strike should not be paid. Further, in a letter to Mr Muraguri, the union had said they would take stern action by April 3 should the ministry proceed on that path with “no further notice”.

But speaking to journalists in Kisumu on Thursday, Governor Jack Ranguma, his Kisii counterpart James Ongwae and Busia boss Sospeter Ojaamong said the medics should not expect payment for the period they were on strike.

Later, Council of Governors Chairman Peter Munya, in a statement, also said they would not pay for work not done.

He said the doctors’ accumulated salaries of about Sh3.2 billion was used for “extraordinary” measures during the strike. A source at the Council of Governors clarified that some of this money was spent to take the sick in the counties to “private hospitals for specialised treatment”.

NOT CLEAR

It is not, however, clear how many such patients benefited from this arrangement, which counties they are from or the hospitals they were taken to.

“It will be fraudulent, un-procedural and illegal to pay doctors accumulated salaries of about Sh3.2 billion without any basis in law when they participated in meetings and signed the Return to Work Formula that removed the clause,” Mr Munya said.

However, KPMDU secretary-general Ouma Oluga insisted that the salary arrears must be paid as agreed.

“Let the Council of Governors stop panicking. The union is willing to meet and reconcile, but both sides should do away with their egos,” he said.

In Kisumu, Mr Ongwae said it was clear that the doctors were not on duty.

“Why do they want to be paid yet they were on the street. Are you asking whether doctors will be paid for the time when they did not work? I think you know the answer to that question yourself,” Mr Ongwae said.

Report by Eunice Kilonzo, Angela Oketch, Aggrey Omboki and Gaitano Pesa.