Homa Bay civil servants have joined their colleagues in the health sector in a strike over delayed salaries, disrupting services in county offices.
On Thursday, Kenya Union of Civil Servants officials in Homa Bay asked their members not to report to work from Friday until their demands are met.
The civil servants and medics are demanding their April salaries.
Health workers, including nurses, clinicians and doctors, went on strike last Monday after their seven-day strike notice elapsed.
Through their branch secretary Tom Akech, KUCS expressed concerns over constant delays in payment of salary.
Akech said the county has never paid them on time despite having an agreement over payment timelines.
“It unfortunate that we have to issue a strike notice or make noise to get paid by the employer. Homa Bay government should know it's our right to be paid because we work for it,” he said.
Akech said they will be staging demonstrations at Governor Cyprian Awiti’s offices next Monday to express their dissatisfaction with frequent salary delays.
In their return to work formula signed by KUCS officials and the county government in 2021, Akech said all salaries were to be paid by the 8th of every month.
But most employees are paid two or three weeks after the due date. They say this arrangement affects their financial plans.
“Payment of statutory deductions is also affected. Even if they are paid, they don't have value because of strict deadlines,” Aketch said.
The deductions include remittance of National Hospital Insurance Fund, which should reflect on an individual's account by the 9th of every month.
“There are penalties when these payments are delayed. For NHIF, late payment means no health services,” he said.
Akech urged Awiti to intervene to avoid a repeat of the same.
“We’re going to demand an address from Awiti at his office because he is the chief executive officer of the county,” he said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
