2,000 nurses and union officials miss out on December salaries but say strike will go on till government relents

By ALLY JAMAH

KENYA: At least 2,000 striking nurses have not received their December salaries in what union officials believe is a strategy by Government to intimidate them into calling of their protest.

Officials of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) confirmed that most of their members have not received their pay.  Nurses in public hospital are usually paid on the 24th of each month or earlier, especially in December.  “We are convinced that Government is withholding salaries to frustrate nurses during this festive season in the hope that we will abandon the strike. We will not be intimidated,” said KNUN chairman Jophinus Musundi yesterday.

Some of the nurses who spoke to  The Standard in Nairobi yesterday said their holiday had been ruined because of the salary stoppage. One said: “I should have travelled up country to be with my parents and family but I did not leave the city because of the salary issue. The Government is being unfair to us.”

NNAK chairman Jeremiah Maina said 2,000 out of 15,700 nurses in public health facilities have been affected by the salary stoppage. He said that those perceived to be most active in the strike, now on its 26th day, have been targeted.

“All the national officials of KNUN and NNAK have not received their pay and many other branch leaders in different counties. That is impunity because nurses have the right to participate in strikes,” he said.

Received letters

Efforts to reach the Minister of Medical Services, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, and his Permanent Secretary Mary Ngari to comment on the matter were unsuccessful, therefore, it is not clear if the missing salaries were a result of technical hitches in the Government’s payroll or a deliberate withholding of the money.  In addition, some striking have been issued with transfer letters from their current  work stations while others have been threatened with disciplinary action. 

This includes Musundi, who has allegedly been transferred from Kakamega Provincial General Hospital to Wajir.