NAIROBI — The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has accused county governments of negligence, inaction and impunity over the ongoing health workers’ strike, warning that the crisis could persist until devolved governments address workers’ grievances.
KUCO Chairperson Peterson Wachira said health workers had raised their concerns with county governments more than two months ago, but the Council of Governors had failed to engage them in meaningful negotiations.
Wachira said the union issued its initial demand notice on June 2, followed by a 14-day strike notice on July 6, but claimed that county governments had not formally responded to their grievances.
“More than 60 days after we first raised the issues and almost 30 days after we gave the notice, the Council of Governors is yet to formally invite us for any meaningful discussion,” Wachira said.
He accused governors of choosing to address the dispute through the media instead of engaging health workers directly.
Wachira, however, commended the Ministry of Health under Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale for responding to issues within its mandate.
He said the Ministry facilitated payment of July salaries for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers and converted their payslips to permanent and pensionable status.
However, he said the conversion remained incomplete because workers also require formal appointment letters from county governments to confirm their permanent and pensionable terms.
According to Wachira, counties have failed to issue the letters despite Parliament allocating funds to facilitate the transition of UHC workers and Global Fund-supported staff involved in the tuberculosis programme.
He said the situation had exposed what he described as the inability of county governments to adequately manage the health sector.
“It is becoming evident by the day and by the handling of these issues by the Council of Governors that health has become a weight too heavy for the Council of Governors and the counties to bear,” he said.
Wachira noted that the national government had previously been forced to intervene in staffing shortages at county facilities, including the deployment of about 9,500 UHC workers when the programme was launched in 2020.
He said a similar intervention was required during the COVID-19 pandemic, when another cohort of health workers was recruited under the national government’s response programme and deployed to counties.
The union chairperson said the current strike had severely disrupted services in public health facilities across the country, with nurses, clinical officers, laboratory officers and public health officers among workers participating in the industrial action.
“Facilities are not working, but yet the governors do not see any problem with it,” Wachira said.
He accused county governments of failing in their constitutional responsibility to ensure Kenyans have access to quality healthcare.
Wachira said health workers were prepared to sustain the strike for as long as necessary until county governments took action on their grievances.
He urged Kenyans to make healthcare a central issue in the national conversation, saying the current crisis had demonstrated the need for urgent reforms in the management and financing of devolved health services.
“We as health workers also have a duty to ensure that Kenyans are treated by health workers who are adequate and motivated enough to provide the quality healthcare that Kenya boasts of,” he said.