Governors accuse Health CS Duale of being a bully

Health CS Aden Duale at Afya House on 26th May 2025. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

The Council of Governors (COG) has pointed an accusing finger at Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale for the challenges facing the health sector.

The council termed the CS a bully who was not ready to listen to stakeholders, leading to the near  collapse of the sector and the continued strikes by medics.

The move comes a couple of days after the CS clashed with the Parliamentary Committee on Health over the performance of the controversial Social Health Authority (SHA).

According to the Chair of the Health committee in COG, Mutahi Kahiga, the high turnover of Cabinet Secretaries (CS) in the health docket has worsened the current situation.

While calling for a permanent solution on the sensitive docket, the Nyeri Governor said that each CS came with his policies, which ended unfinished with a new occupant in office.

“The high turnover of Cabinet Secretaries in the health docket has affected service delivery and the current holder is a bully who is not ready to listen to anyone,” he said.

Speaking during the 27th Annual Kenya Clinical Officers Association (KCOA) conference in Naivasha, Kahiga lauded the work being done by clinical officers.

He said that the Council had approved the increase of risk allowance for clinical officers from Sh3,000 to Sh7,000 as part of addressing their challenges and was ready for fresh salary negotiations.

Kahiga added that the government should have a conditional grant that guaranteed Universal Health Care (UHC) workers their salaries for three years to avoid the perennial crisis.

“The biggest problem we currently have is the politicisation of Universal Health Care with the national government refusing to take responsibility for workers in this docket,” he said.

On his part, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) national chairman Peterson Wachira welcomed the move by SRC to review the risk allowances for clinical officers.

He added that the Union was ready for fresh negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the review of career guidelines for clinical officers.

“We have had challenges with our scheme of service which has affected career progression and we shall be engaging the necessary authorities to solve this,” he said.

The President of, Kenya Clinical Officers Association (KCOA) Moses Matore termed the work of clinical officers as critical, noting that they served over 75 percent in all health centers in the country.

“Clinical officers have always been there whenever doctors went on strikes, and their grievances must be addressed in time to avoid a crisis in the health sector,” he said.