Clinical interns down tools in protest over unpaid allowances

Clinical interns working in various hospitals in Murang’a County during a press briefing on October 31, 2019 when they announced that they have withdrawn their services countrywide due to what they say is failure by the Ministry of Health to release their allowances. PHOTO | NDUNG'U GACHANE NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  NDUNGU GACHANE

What you need to know:

  • They claimed to have been taken in circles by various government ministries in their quest to have the money released.
  • They said failure by the government to release the money has exposed them to untold sufferings.
  • The interns want President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene to end their woes.

Clinical interns working in various hospitals in the country have withdrawn their services due to what they say is failure by the Ministry of Health to release their allowances despite the same being approved in the2019/2020 budget.

The over 2,000 diploma and degree students claimed to have been taken in circles by various government ministries in their quest to have the money released.

They said they will only return to their respective internship centres when their dues is paid in full.

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SUFFERING

Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Muranga town, the interns said failure by the government to release the money has exposed them to untold sufferings since they are not able to cater for rent, bus fare and their upkeep.

Mr Alexander Mungai, the chairman of their association, said some of them have been sent to far flung areas from where they live and without bus fare, a move he said has demotivated many who joined the profession out of passion.

“We have suffered enough, our efforts to follow our dues, which is our right, have fallen on deaf ears. Every time we follow with the various government departments we are told to wait but we have waited for five months now,” Mr Mungai said.

FALSE HOPE

He said the association has approached the office of the deputy president, the Public Service Commission and the Health ministry who gave them false hope by telling them to wait for the money to be released which has not happened to date.

Following their tribulations, the interns want President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene to end their woes.

They also want the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate why the money in the budget has not trickled down to them.

“We have exhausted all the avenues and we beseech the Office of the President to come to our rescue and find out why the money, despite being allocated, has not been dispatched to us. EACC should also investigate the matter,” said Mr Edwin Ayuka, the secretary-general of the Diploma Clinical Officer Interns of Kenya.

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