Kenya's health sector is likely to plunge further into crisis as clinical officers have issued a seven-day strike notice to the government over grievances that are yet to be addressed.
Their notice follows industrial action by doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU), who have made demands including internship posting for graduates, better pay and promotions.
Via the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), the clinical officers say the government has until midnight on Sunday, March 31, 2024, to take action.
"Your government has failed you because the Ministry of Health and the Council of Governors have forced us to call a strike and interrupt health services," said KUCO Chairperson Peterson Wachira.
He noted on Monday that the ministry came to the negotiating table following a previous 14-day strike notice, but no progress has been made.
"Last Monday, March 18, when the 14 days elapsed, we added another seven days to allow us to resolve matters in the petition. Unfortunately, nothing we raised in the petition has been addressed," he said.
Wachira noted that they have given the government enough time to act on their demands.
"We are a testament of lack of commitment from the government. We are not going on strike because the doctors are going on strike or because it looks like a strike season. It is because we have no other option," he said.
The union gave several reasons for the strike, among them a central bargaining agreement whose terms the government is yet to fulfil.
Wachira noted that their most recent deal, signed by the ministry in July 2023, stated that a 90-day negotiation period would be granted and the CBA concluded.
He added that the government was yet to honour an order issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in 2019, for parties to resume negotiations and reach conclusions.
Further, the union wants the perennial issues affecting the provision of healthcare services addressed. They include delayed salary payments, lack of promotions and redesignation, a shortage of clinical officers in hospitals, and terms of employment that the clinical officers have described as exploitative and discriminatory.
KUCO also wants the ministry to implement the payment of an enhanced risk allowance of Sh15,000 under the return-to-work agreement signed on January 1, 2021.
The clinical officers have also demanded that their employers immediately issue letters of position to all staff, interns and national TB programme clinical officers.
They further want Kirinyaga County to reinstate all dismissed clinical officers as ordered by the Public Service Commission (PSC).