PATIENTS TURNED TO SPIRITUAL HEALING AS HEALTH WORKERS STRIKE BITES IN MANDERA

 BY ADOW JUBAT

48 health facilities in Mandera County remained closed for third day running as 458 health workers down their tools on Monday citing poor working conditions and poor pay.

Meanwhile the six officials of Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) who were arrested by police on incitement claims were released, without any charges preferred against them even after they were held overnight at police cell after they were denied cash bill by the police.

Mohamednur Maalim Abdi who spoke for the striking health workers said they will not resume duty until the six issues they raised with their employer (the county government) is amicably resolved.

Abdi said the issues that they want addressed before they return to work are upgrading of all seconded staffs by one group job ahead by end of February 2015, implementation of Serem proposed house and hardship allowances by march 2015 and backdated to January 2014, immediate confirmation of the employed staffs and putting them into permanent and pensionable terms of employment.

Other demands Britam health cover for county contracting staffs like other county staffs.

The health workers also claimed that the working condition were deplorable with their staff quarters houses leaking during the rain and they have no toilets forcing them to share the same with patients. They also claimed that they serve patients while standing for the 8 hours they are be on duty since there were no a single chair to seat on.

The health workers who said they are striking as aggrieved workers as provided by in the article 41 of the constitution of Kenya accused the county administration of reneging on an agreement reached with them on the timeline their demands should be implemented.

The health employees who returned to work on February this year after a four similar go-slow said they decided to withdraw their services after the county government failed to honor raft of issues they promised to address.

However, the county executive member for Health Hassan Emoi disabused the workers assertion that the county was not doing enough to address the plight of health workers.

"When the county inherited health services from national government in 2013, there were only 154 in the entire county, when we took over we have employed 340 health workers in the last two years. This has helped in reducing the long working hours and stressing situation our healthcare workers were experiencing", He said.

He added "As a county government we understand the challenges such as insecurity and hardship our health workers undergoing while serving our people, but we are unhappy that they are impatient in allowing us to undergo all legal processes required to effect their demands",

Emoi said most of issues raised by the striking workers are in their final stage to be addressed noting that aggrieves such as promotion of staffs has to undergo long processes of reconstructing files of the employees so as to establish who is due for promotion, and who isn't.

He said " The health workers also want us to confirm the staff employed by the county and increase their salaries, but before a worker is confirmed the regulations states that they have to be on probation for year as their documents are be verified, while on the issue of salary increment has a national body to handle",