Kericho: Reprieve as county Gov’t kickstarts hiring of health care workers on permanent terms

More than eight hundred heslth care workers who have been on contract, working in Kericho hospitals are set to be employed on permanent terms after years of calling for confirmation. 

Governor Erick Mutai on Monday said that the county has put in Ksh. 20 billion towards the programme.

“We have to do what is right. We had delays and we sincerely apologise for that but we are beginning the process of confirmation this week,” he said.

Some medics have worked on contract since 2012 and have never been confirmed.

Mutai said, “Some people are now even beyond 45 years and still earning very little but we want to change this with confirming them.”

However, he said that with the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024, the resulting reduction in allocations to the counties would mean that not all health care workers would be confirmed at once.

Mutai said that confirmation would however be done on a merit basis.

On their part, the medics called for fairness during the confirmation process.

“We don’t want cases of bias where relatives of officials are given priority during confirmation. We all deserve to be confirmed without bias,” one worker said.

He said many medics have wanted to further their studies but lack of funds and job security has hindered their efforts.