The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has warned governors and the national government against entering into a deal with the striking nurses.
In a letter dated February 6, the commission told Health CS Sicily Kariuki and Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya that any payment without its advice will be illegal.
“The advice of the commission must be obtained before determining remuneration and benefits of any public officer. This advice is binding as provided in Article 225( 2 )of the Constitution,” it reads.
“Noncompliance with the advice will be in breach of Article 226 and 259 ( 2 ) of the Constitution and the Public Finance Act and regulations made thereunder.”
The SRC said any payment to the nurses has direct impact on the “country’s budget and accounts for substantial fraction of the overall government spending”.
“The public wage bill is an important determinant of fiscal performance. A high public wage bill will crowd out resources that could be used fore other development priorities and create fiscal deficits.”
Yesterday, the national and the county governments urged nurses to call off their strike and return to work.
In a joint press statement, Sicily and Oparanya appealed to the nurses to respect the court order issued on Tuesday and allow the conciliation process to proceed smoothly.
“The county governments and the Ministry of Health reiterate their commitment to fully cooperating with the conciliation committee established by the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection,” they said.
“As required by the conciliation committee that each party submits a memorandum of reply, the county governments, through the council, and the ministry have submitted and will fully comply with the process.”
Labour CS Ukur Yattani last week appointed a conciliation committee led by Haron Mwaura and gave it 30 days to come up with solutions and recommendations to avert strikes in the future.
On Wednesday last week, the Kenya National Union of Nurses called a strike in 23 counties, but a court on Tuesday suspended it for 60 days after the governors sought an injunction to enable both parties to negotiate.
The county bosses challenged the legitimacy of the strike.
The counties are Nairobi, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Murang’a, Kisii, Embu, Kiambu, Garissa and Elgeyo Marakwet.
Others are Kirinyaga, Marsabit, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Tharaka Nithi, West Pokot, Kitui, Wajir, Kwale, Mandera and Taita Taveta.
The nurses have ruled out the possibility of engaging in any conciliatory talks with the Labour ministry.
KNUN secretary general Seth Panyako on Tuesday said negotiations are done at the national level and implementation effected by specific employers and that the CoG gave them the go-ahead to issue a strike notice.
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“As a union, we are not going to engage in any further talks on issues touching on nursing service allowance and uniform allowance,” Panyako had said.
“Twenty counties promised to effect the pay either at the end of this month [January] or end of February, hence will receive their strike notices from next week.”
The nurses are on strike over what they say is failure by the counties to increase their allowances. They say the allowances were factored in the county budgets.
They blame the Salary and Remuneration Commission for failing to include the money in their payroll system, accusing the commission of taking them in circles.
The health officers were to go on strike in December last year but halted it to pave the way for negotiations, which they say is yet to bear fruit. The nursing services allowance is to be implemented in three phases.
For the financial year 2018-19, they want Sh23,000, while for the 2019-20, they will get Sh26,500 and Sh30,000 for 2020–21.
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