Most nurses are likely to go on strike starting Monday after they failed to receive their February salaries in what the health executive termed an 'error' in payment.
The county has more than 1,200 nurses and three-quarters of them have not received their February salaries.
Kenya National Union of Nurses branch secretary Omondi Nyonje said on Sunday that their colleagues with accounts at the Co-operative, Kenya Commercial and Absa banks have not received their salaries since Thursday last week.
Nyonje said the nurses who got their salaries are those with accounts at Equity Bank and Saccos.
“We noticed that our employer didn’t pay almost three-quarters of us. The Homa Bay government should not assume that everybody has been paid,” he said.
The unionist said efforts to find out what happened have been unsuccessful. He said they were referred to the management of the banks.
Nyonje said they could not ask the banks because they do not have a contract with them.
“There is nowhere we signed an employment contract with any bank, hence it is not logical to discuss our salary payment with someone who is not our employer,” he said.
Nyonje said they cannot tolerate lack of payment because they had a similar experience in June last year when many of them did not get their complete salaries.
“We experienced a similar error in June last year when some of us received just a quarter of their salaries. The employer promised to pay us the remaining amount gradually but nothing has been done to date,” Nyonje said.
The nurses said the only action they can take is to go on strike.
Homa Bay Health executive Richard Muga said they have received the complaints, adding that it was an error in salary payments.
He said he had notified his finance counterpart Nicholas K’Oriko and they are going to discuss the matter on Monday.
“I have received complaints over the error. I have notified my finance colleague and we are going to discuss the matter tomorrow,” Muga said.
