Machakos clears the air over claims of "starving health workers"

Machakos County Health executive, Justus Kasivu (centre) addresses the media at the county's major referral hospital.[Erastus Mulwa, Standard]

The County Government of Machakos has come out to clarify allegations that a section of staff working as cleaners had gone for months without pay.

It has now emerged that, contrary to earlier reports published in the local media, the workers were indeed casual personnel hired by a local contractor doing business with the county government.

Health Executive Justus Kasivu on Tuesday said the casuals attached to Machakos Level 5 Hospital were not bona fide county government staff and therefore did not owe the county any outstanding salary arrears.

"We wish to clarify that the county government does not have any pending salary obligations for its payroll staff. We empathize with the citizens whose wages have been delayed by the contractor, and I want to confirm that it is the responsibility of the contractor to pay their officers," said Kasivu.

The minister noted that the county government had already fulfilled its obligation to the contractor, adding that investigations have been initiated to establish why the contractor had not paid the workers.

Last week, the Senate Committee on Health toured health facilities in Machakos County, where they lauded Governor Wavinya Ndeti for implementing transformative reforms in the healthcare sector.

However, the lawmakers raised concerns over the delayed wages of the cleaners working as casuals at Machakos Level 5 Hospital.

Citing the huge amount of outstanding SHA claims owed to the county government, Kasivu urged Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu to help push the National Treasury to release the funds in order to improve service delivery.

"I urge Senator Kavindu to help push the national government to release money to our facilities to enable us to serve the people of Machakos. We have a pending bill of SHA claims of Sh750 million, and if paid, it will go a long way to improve our services," he said.