Kirinyaga County moves to address health workers' grievances amid go-slow threat

Speaking at Kerugoya County Referral Hospital, Chief Officer for Medical Services, Public Health and Sanitation Dr Muriithi Nyaga said a budget proposal to facilitate promotions and re-designations has already been submitted to the County Assembly for consideration and approval.

The assurance comes amid growing concerns among health workers over employment terms and career progression, issues that have sparked threats of industrial action.

Dr Nyaga maintained that health services across the county would not be disrupted, saying the administration had taken steps to address workers' concerns while ensuring continuity of care in public health facilities.

He said the county had successfully integrated 237 casual employees into the county payroll system, issued them personal numbers and cleared their salary arrears. A further 138 casual workers are undergoing verification before being enrolled into the payroll system.

According to the Chief Officer, delays in processing some workers stemmed from the transition to the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and discrepancies in identification documents submitted during the registration process.

The county government has been implementing reforms over the past three months to streamline the management and payment of casual workers, following a national directive requiring counties to migrate from manual wage payments to an integrated payroll system.

On medical supplies, Dr. Nyaga said public health facilities in the county currently have adequate stocks of essential medicines and equipment. He attributed this to a major procurement undertaken through the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) in April, supplemented by purchases from local suppliers for items unavailable through the national agency.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Kirinyaga County Assembly Health Committee Bosco Gichangi urged political leaders to refrain from politicising labour disputes in the health sector.

Gichangi said the assembly had already received the executive's budget proposal on health workers' promotions and was reviewing it before tabling it for debate and approval by the full House.

He expressed optimism that the long-standing promotion issue would be resolved once the budgetary process is completed.