Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has advised its degree interns not to pick internship offer letters from the Ministry of Health.
KUCO secretary general George Gibore in an advisory dated April 4 said the union was still in talks with the ministry to iron out contentious issues.
Gibore has instead advised the BSC clinical officers interns to wait until the negotiations are over after which it will give directions on the next steps.
“It has come to our attention that a directive has been issued for interns to collect their offer letters," he said.
Gibore in the notice advised the affected interns to disregard any such communication persuading them to collect their placement letters.
“We are currently in discussion with the ministry to address certain terms within the offer letters which deviate from the standard rates,” he said.
“Until these negotiations are concluded and the union communicates otherwise, we advise all interns to refrain from collecting any offer letters from MoH or any other authority.”
Gibore said the union was working tirelessly to ensure that the rights and interests of the interns were safeguarded during this process and called for their patience for the time being.
The ministry has been issuing posting letters to about 1,270 diploma clinical officers since late last month.
Data shows about 145 others who are holders of Bachelor of Science (BSC) in clinical medicine are also supposed to be posted for their internship.
This comes even as clinicians made good their threat to go on strike by downing their tools on Monday.
KUCO chairperson Peterson Wachira on Sunday said the strike decision was necessitated by the failure of the two levels of government to heed their demands despite a strike notice.
They are demanding that the national and county governments issue confirmation letters on permanent and pensionable terms to UHC staff hired during the Covid-19 period and to national TB programme clinicians and all members currently on contractual terms.
They also want the national government and counties to recruit more than 20,000 unemployed and qualified clinical officers to cover the existing shortage.
The union also demands the government provide comprehensive medical cover for all actively serving clinical officers in the public sector so they can access services wherever they need them.
