The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers has clapped back at Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha over claims of a meeting to discuss a return to work agreement.
Speaking on Citizen TV, Nakhumicha claimed that the clinical officers had a meeting with the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards Mercy Muthoni to discuss their affairs.
"On clinical officers specifically, I am aware that even last week, they met the Principal Secretary and it is only after the PS has escalated to my level that I am able to handle it, but the issue they are asking about is risk allowance," Nakhumicha disclosed.
Hot on her heels, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers took to X to deny the claims saying the meeting had not happened.
"Susan Nakhumicha, unless you are being misadvised, we have not met Ps Mary Muthoni in the past one month and the team she appointed refuses to sit and negotiate a return to work agreement as directed by courts. Clinical Officers in National government are over 500 in number," the union said on their X handle.
On her side, Nakhumicha explained that the clinical officers are pushing for an increase in their risk allowance from the current Ksh3,000 to Ksh15,000.
Although she opined that the increment was too high, she asked the clinical officers to discuss it with the Council of Governors (CoG), who are their primary employers then the county bosses will give direction to the Ministry of Health.
"Currently, they earn a risk allowance of Ksh3,000, they are asking for an increment to Ksh15,000. I know there is talk that we only take care of clinical officers at the national level who are less than 200 working in the national referral hospital because you know health is devolved so the majority of these clinical officers work within the counties, so once we look at the enhancement of the risk allowance in fact from Ksh3,000 to Ksh15,000, what percentage is that? But we have to look at it in totality because it will affect all the clinical health officers in the country. I have personally talked to their chair about this."
"This discussion should be held with the Council of Governors (CoG) to see whether they can afford this jump at the national level. We have made it a policy that a letter came from the Ministry of Health to the Salaries Remuneration Commission (SRC) regarding the same," the Health Cabinet Secretary explained.
The union said the Cabinet Secretary was burying her head in the sand, saying they work across two levels of government and therefore, governors cannot be their primary employers.
"It is also not true that the Council of Governors is the primary employer. Clinical Officers work across the two levels of government. You are the authority that is expected to intervene & expedite when there arises a stalemate. What you are doing is akin to the proverbial ostrich story," the union stated.
The CS asked the healthcare practitioners to continue working and avoid too much worry because the Kenya Kwanza government made a deliberate effort to create a State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards that will address their needs.
