The Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) has threatened to call a nationwide strike if the government does not address devolution issues affecting the health sector. The union’s secretary-general, Seth Panyako, hit out at Transition Authority (TA) chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi for allegedly dismantling the health sector through a legal notice. “Nurses are not employees of the county governments because they are not responsible for our salaries. We are told that we are under devolved government, yet there is no Act of Parliament devolving health. Functions cannot be devolved through a legal notice,” Mr Panyako said. He said that the union would ask the nurses to down their tools if there is no Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by November 21. Mr Panyako was speaking during the Kenya Progressive Nurses Association (KPNA) 28th annual scientific conference at Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) in Meru County on Thursday. HEALTH SECTOR ‘HAS IMPROVED’ Mr Wamwangi, who also addressed the nurses’ union, maintained that the health sector had improved tremendously after devolution despite various human resource challenges. He said that the Transition Authority had inspected most hospitals in the country and established that there was substantial improvement in infrastructure and service delivery. “Members of Parliament have been claiming that the health sector has gone to the dogs since devolution. But some counties have experienced great improvement in health care under the county governments. We are seeing developments that had never been experienced 50 years after independence,” Mr Wamwangi said. He called on health workers’ unions to actively engage with the Council of Governors to ensure harmony in delivery of service in the health sector. “Members of county assemblies and health CECs should give space to health workers. County health CECs should ring-fence health budgets to avoid friction. It is time the health workers developed a good working relationship with health CECs because health is devolved,” the TA chairman said. RIDDLED WITH CONFUSION However, KPNAs chairman, Mr Thaddeus Mayaka, lamented that devolution of health services had been riddled with confusion and had left nurses unattended. “There is (a) need for procedural devolution of health services because we are experiencing a disconnection between county and national health services. Nurses have been facing challenges on where to seek services on promotion, resignation and retirement. Some nurses who have retired have been moving from county to national government offices without getting help,” Mr Mayaka remarked. He said that health workers had faced political interference from MCAs and called on the national government to address the challenge. The nurses said they would continue resisting the move to devolve health services until the government provides clear guidelines.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 02:35:39 +0000
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