Meru clinical officers protest over unpaid December salaries

Clinical officers in Meru County have protested non-payment of December salaries for 105 of them over the strike that ended earlier in the month.

Mr Moses Baiyenia, the county's Secretary-General of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, said among those affected were six women on maternity leave and 15 people on study leave.

He said the non-payment of salaries was surprising as they halted their strike and returned to work following an order by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

NO FEEDBACK

Mr Baiyenia said he wrote a letter to Meru's Health Chief Office Kanana Kimonye and payroll manager Sabina Gatumi, seeking an explanation and demanding the payments.

“We are yet to receive a response from the officers. Out of the 177 clinical officers, only 65 received their pay," he told the Nation.

“We don’t understand why we missed our salaries yet we complied with the order. We will meet in the first week of January to discuss the matter."

COLLAPSED TALKS

In November, Meru kicked off talks with branch officials over allegations of poor management of the workforce following a clinical officers’ deficit of 300.

The workers also demanded promotion of officers who had served for long as well as employment of specialists.

The talks collapsed after the national office called for a nationwide strike.

The county government, through lawyer Ken Muriuki, now wants the court to direct appointment of a conciliation committee to revive the talks.