Civil servants have issued a 14-day strike notice to the government over what they term as undermining workers’ welfare. This comes as it emerged that civil servants are facing salary cuts due to unpaid medical bills.
During a press conference on Tuesday, March 4, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) announced that it will urge its members to go on strike nationwide on Monday, March 18, if the government does not resolve the ongoing dispute regarding the medical cover linked to the Public Officers Medical Fund (POMF).
POMSF is a medical cover for civil servants under SHA aimed at providing comprehensive medical coverage for public servants and their dependents. This scheme is designed to ensure that public officers receive additional medical benefits beyond the standard social health insurance package.
According to the union that spoke alongside the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the government has failed to pay hospital bills under the POMF scheme, leaving public servants stranded despite monthly deductions.
“The comprehensive medical cover was established in 2012 when civil servants forfeited their medical allowance for an insurance scheme,” said KMPDU Secretary-General Davji Atellah.
“Public servants are back to fundraising for medical needs despite being deducted twice—2.75 per cent to SHIF and forfeiture of medical allowance to POMF.”
The unions reported that several hospitals nationwide have refused to provide services under the Public Officers Medical Fund (POMF) due to unpaid bills.
This scheme, which is overseen by the SHA, replaced the previous fee-for-service model following the enactment of the SHA Act in 2023.
Tom Odege, the Secretary-General of the UKCS, warned, “We are giving the government two weeks to resolve this issue once and for all. Failure to do so, we will call on all civil servants in both national and county governments to join demonstrations starting on March 18.”
Failure to fulfill the demands could face a total shutdown in 30 days, the union warned.
The threat of a strike comes amid an announcement that the government is facing a financial crisis under the new health scheme.
The Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), which replaced the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in October last year, has faced numerous challenges but for the first time, the government has openly admitted the delay in clearing patient payments stems from a funding crisis.
While addressing the press at Afya House last month, Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa and the Director General of Health, Dr Patrick Amoth, revealed that of the 19 million Kenyans registered with the national scheme, only 3.3 million Kenyans are contributing to the scheme.
“Health services are expensive, and we cannot only have those in formal employment bearing the burden of the rest of the Kenyan population,” said Dr Amoth. The government is appealing for more Kenyans to begin shouldering the burden.
