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Clinical officers threaten protest after Amoth 'insult'

He said they are not recognised outside Kenya. They should go into other careers.

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by The Star

Health05 April 2024 - 12:21
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In Summary


  • The COs have made several demands before going on strike on March 31. They demanded negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement to conclude. 
  • They also want contract clinical officers to be confirmed as permanent staff with pensions.
Kenya Union of Clinical Officers chairman Peterson Wachira with secretary general George Gibore in Nairobi.

Clinical officers will on Monday hold a nationwide protest against acting director general for Health Patrick Amoth whom they accuse of slighting them and disdaining their career.

They also asked the Public Service Commission not to confirm Amoth for the DG position.

On Tuesday, Amoth said clinical officers are not recognised outside Kenya and should therefore go into other careers as a solution to their massive unemployment.

He said they are probably not needed because their training was started as a stop-gap measure when Kenya had a shortage of doctors.

“Is it prudent to continue on that path or we retrace our paths a little bit and help them to progress toward a different career path? Remember clinical officers were a stop-gap by the government to address the shortage of doctors. Now we have 3,000 unemployed doctors. Do we want to continue to produce clinical officers? Or do we retool them to a different path?” he said on Citizen TV.

The clinicians said they felt insulted by those comments.

George Gibore, the secretary general of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers says they now understand why since they went on strike last week, the Ministry of Health has not even bothered to talk to them.

“We condemn the derogatory remarks from acting DG Amoth. We are doing a petition to the public service [for him] not to be considered for the position due to his remarks. He should be pushing for hiring of staff and for improved services,” Gibore told journalists on Friday.

Peter Wachira, KUCO national chairman, said they will hold a mega demonstration against Amoth on Monday.

“We have called all clinical officers across the country, on Monday we will have a mega demonstration. We have a shortage of 24,000 clinical officers, DG Amoth sentiments are not welcomed,” he said.

Joseph Chebii, Kenya Clinical Officers Association’s secretary general, said the DG’s comments depicted incompetence.

“We look forward to PSC not shortlisting Amoth for the position. His sentiments depict his incompetence,” he said.

Clinical medicine in Kenya is offered at the diploma level by the Kenya Medical Training College and at the degree level in more than 10 universities.

The diploma programme started at the Kenyatta National Hospital in 1928 and was discontinued in 1952.

The training restarted in 1967 because of a shortage of doctors and has expanded to date.

The training covers medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, community health, rural health and health service management, among others.

It is recognised in law and there is a Clinical Officers Council that is charged with training registration and licensing COs. Clinicians fall somewhere between nurses and doctors in the clinical hierarchy and are allowed to perform some invasive procedures.

On Tuesday, Amoth said the Ministry of Health headquarters has only 207 officers trained in clinical medicine. He said counties have employed about 6,000 while private facilities have employed another 6,000, leaving about 40,000 jobless.  

He said despite the growing joblessness, the output of clinical officers in Kenya has increased five times.

“Do we still want to continue to produce clinical officers in that numbers or do we reskill or retool them so that they can take a different path, and then we reduce the numbers. Remember they’re only recognised here in Kenya so they have no exit," he said. 

"You’re either in Kenya or if you go out you take a different career. Is it prudent to continue in that path or we retrace our path or we see how we can handle COs already in the ecosystem to progress into alternative careers?  They can only go into epidemiology or public health.” 

The COs have made several demands before going on strike on March 31. They demanded negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement to conclude. The talks have stalled since 2017.

They also want contract clinical officers to be confirmed as permanent staff with pensions.

The union further demanded a clear career progression for its members, arguing that some clinical officers have not been promoted since 2013.

The clinical officers' union demanded the immediate recruitment of 20,000 clinical officers, the Ministry of Health’s adherence to 2020 approved internship staff establishment guidelines as well as the approval of Career Progression Guidelines for clinical officers.

“We are here to confirm that the strike is on and strong. County governments should stop misleading our members that we have engaged and agreed. The governments should address the 10 points we raised,” Gibore said.

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