Health workers have threatened to go on strike if their demands for better terms are not met. During a demonstration Tuesday, doctors, members of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers and staff hired under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme  called for remittance of statutory deductions and payment of salary arrears.

They also want interns posted and the UHC staff put on permanent and pensionable terms.

In the march that started at the Kenyatta National Hospital to the Social Health Authority (SHA) offices, Afya House and then the Senate, the health professionals warned they would shut down the healthcare sector in May if they are not heard. 

“We are ready to go on strike not just for ourselves but for interns, clinical officers, and UHC staff. This government has decided to kill both patients and doctors,” said Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentist union Secretary-General Davji Atellah.

He condemned SHA’s failures, stating that even basic health services remain inaccessible to many medical professionals.

“SHA is only working for politicians. Healthcare workers cannot access it every 9th of the month. This is unacceptable.” 

The protesters also decried plans to slash their salaries, with concerns that their pay could be reduced from Sh70,000 to Sh40,000 despite the Ministry of Health’s budget standing at Sh3.7 billion.

The health workers cited frustrations with contractual jobs that leave them earning far less than their county government counterparts. 

“We have been forced into three-year contracts, and now we are serving under an illegal extension beyond the initial five years,” said one UHC worker.

The union claims that over 8,500 UHC staff are stuck in an exploitative system where they earn only half of what their colleagues on permanent terms receive, with no allowances.

“We have been protesting for months, but the government refuses to listen. If they continue ignoring us, we will go on a full-blown strike,” said a staff. 

Medical interns said they had been left stranded without postings, salaries or licences.

“I have had to work in catering just to survive because I have no licence to practice. I trained to be a doctor, but I’m cooking for people just to put food on the table,” said an intern.

In the meantime, SHA has pulled down the payment list of Sh11.4 billion after the infiltration of the system by scammers.

Acting Chief Executive Officer Robert Ingasira said criminals downloaded and doctored the list.

“Some people had downloaded the list, doctored it and were using it to con hospitals, telling them they are helping hospitals to be paid,” he said. 

The public had poked holes into inconsistency in relaying information about hospital payments, after the list of Sh11.4 billion pay was made public, only for it to be pulled down.

Ingasira said a number of hospitals complained that unknown individuals were calling them claiming to be reconciling National Hospital Insurance Fund debt.

“Hospitals reported to us that individuals who posed like SHA employees reached out to them, asking them to share their details so that they could help them process claims for NHIF debt,” he said.

The complaints were raised on Thursday and Friday last week, and the list was pulled down over the weekend. SHA cautioned healthcare providers and the public that the payment analysis document was fake and should be disregarded.

He said the list would be put up on the website soon.

In the list published last week, hospitals ranging from private, public, mission and faith based facilities received their two months pay, from December 3, 2024 and February 3. By Mercy Kahenda and Maryann Muganda, The Standard