Clinical officers have accused Nairobi and Marsabit county governments of failing to resolve long-standing grievances, prolonging an industrial action that has disrupted health services for months despite the union suspending its nationwide strike last month.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) said the two counties had failed to implement return-to-work agreements, leaving hundreds of clinicians off duty and patients without essential services.
KUCO Chairman, Peterson Wachira, said the union ended a 36-day nationwide strike on January 28 after reaching an agreement with all 47 county governments.
However, three counties — Baringo, Nairobi and Marsabit were allowed to continue with the industrial action due to unresolved issues.
“Baringo has since resolved the issues and our members are back to work. But Nairobi and Marsabit remain on strike. We also have the national government, where the CS for Health is yet to sign our CBA which was one of the key issues that led to the strike,” Wachira said.
Addressing the media on Tuesday at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu, Wachira expressed disappointment that although county governments had appended their signatures to the CBA, the Ministry of Health had not done so, despite a public pledge by the CS Adan Duale to sign once counties complied.
“Clinical officers continue being on strike on issues that can be resolved and that had been agreed upon prior. It is unfortunate and disappointing,” he said.
He noted that the continued impasse in Nairobi and Marsabit threatens to deepen the strain on public health facilities, with patients bearing the brunt of the prolonged strike.
KUCO General Secretary George Gibore said clinical officers in Nairobi had been on strike for more than 50 days, accusing the county of failing to prioritise health services.
“It is worrying that a county as large as Nairobi cannot prioritise the issues of health. The effort being put in place does not commensurate with the needs of the residents,” he said.
Gibore said both Nairobi and Marsabit had signed return-to-work agreements but failed to implement them, triggering continued industrial action.
In Marsabit, he termed the situation as dire, claiming that the county had failed to provide medical cover for health workers for three years despite budgeting for it annually.
“For the last three years, the county has never provided medical cover for any healthcare worker. Money is deducted but not remitted to third parties. That is a criminal offence under the Employment Act,” he said.
He added that clinical officers in Marsabit had not received promotions for more than a decade, despite funds being allocated in county budgets each year.
“The issue of promotion alone requires Sh8 million, which is money facilities can collect in less than two days. Yet the county is unable or unwilling to address it,” Gibore said, adding that delayed salaries had compounded the crisis.
Clinical officers in Marsabit initially went on strike in October last year before the court ordered a 30-day return to work in December to allow negotiations. However, the union says the county has remained unyielding.
As a long term measure, Gibore called for a constitutional audit of the devolved health system, proposing a centralised mechanism to manage human resources for health to ensure uniform standards across counties.
“We need a centralised system to manage human resources for health so that we can have uniformity in addressing issues affecting healthcare workers. We saw during Covid-19 that centralised management helped the country respond effectively,” Gibore said.
He said despite the standoff, the union remains open to dialogue, maintaining that its members in the affected counties were ready to resume duty once the agreed issues are addressed.
By Chris Mahandara
