Clinical officers and nurses in the country are yet to be paid their negotiated allowances. This is because the National Treasury is yet to release funds for the payment to the Council of Governors.
The Governors say they are yet to receive the funds even after Treasury said two months ago the money was available.
Counties were requested to make provisions to ensure they pay the allowances by end of March. All counties paid apart from Nyamira that has never paid both the health worker allowance and emergency call allowance.
On February 28, Treasury PS Kamau Thugge wrote to his then Health counterpart Nicholas Muraguri communicating that Sh1.7 billion had been set aside in the first phase of the payouts. Thuge said the Treasury had computed the implementation of awards given to the medics which totaled to Sh. 5.3 billion to cater for the first and second phase of the payments.
The payment was to be done in instalments of 60 per cent and 40 percent from January. “The ministry of health has been considered for additional funding amounting to Sh1, 699,992.00 during the financial year 2016/17 to cater for the first phase.
The additional funding compromise Sh. 1, 613,100.00 conditional grant to cater for health workers in county governments and Sh86, 892,000 for those under the national government. Approval to spend the funds has been provided pending regularisation in the supplementary budget,” Thuge’s letter read.
However by yesterday, the counties said they were yet to receive the cash as health workers threatened to resume a strike they abandoned last December. “I can confirm that no county has received any cash,” CoG Director of Communications Andrew Teyie said. Counties had made provisions to pay the nursing allowance until March.
