Health unions will on Monday hold another peaceful protest to push for the posting of interns among other issues.
The unions in a joint notice said the procession will begin at the KMA centre in Upper Hill and will see petitions presented to the Ministry of Health, Council of Governors, Senate, National Assembly, Public Service Commission, the Treasury and the Ministry of Interior.
The unions set to take part in the peaceful protest include the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and Kenya Union of Nutritionists and Dietitians (KUNAD).
Other issues of concern for the unions include the recent alleged assault on KMPDU SG Davji Atellah on Thursday last week, delays in the conclusion of the 2023-26 Collective Bargaining Agreements and reported failure by the ministry to sign recognition agreements.
Delay in the absorption of UHC health workers and harmonisation of all contracts under the ministry and county governments as per the Kericho declaration is another bone of contention.
“Nairobi regional office has already been informed to provide security to health workers as they exercise their right to assemble, picket, demonstrate and present petitions to public offices," the notice reads.
Speaking on Sunday, KNUN SG Seth Panyako blamed the delay in posting interns on corruption and not lack of funds as alleged by the ministry.
“It is not that this country does not have money but money is put to bad use, corruption is the problem but when it comes to posting interns they are telling us there is no money,” Panyako said.
Clinicians last week had given the government until Friday to communicate on the way forward regarding the issue of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) staff.
The union on Wednesday said the one-year period agreed upon to have the staff absorbed on permanent and pensionable terms is fast approaching.
Despite that, the Ministry is yet to communicate whether the staff will be absorbed as agreed in a meeting held in Kericho during the UHC week in October.
“We agreed and signed under the Kericho declaration that after one year, they should be absorbed yet it is less than three months to the end of the contract but there is no information,” KUCO chairperson Peterson Wachira said.
The national and county governments had recently been engrossed in a standoff over the fate of the 9,000 health workers contracted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lot was hired in April 2020 on a three-year contract to boost the response to the pandemic as well as the smooth implementation of UHC.
