City Hall faces legal battle over licensing of hotel workers

Public Health Officers have threatened to sue the Nairobi County Government should it fail to stop the privatisation of issuance of medical operating licenses to hotel workers in the next seven days. Association of Public Health Officers (APHOK) and Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHU) accused Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration of putting the lives or Nairobians and city visitors at risk by authorising private hospitals and laboratories to issue the certificates. "We cannot compromise and negotiate the public safety and really throw this city and the country under the bus," said APHOK Secretary General Mohamed Duba. "APHOK and KEHPHU are prepared to file an Ex Parte Application under certificate of urgency seeking interim conservatory orders to restrain the further implementation of these unlawful directives," he added. He spoke on Thursday during a press briefing at the union's offices in Nairobi. The allegations of privatisation of the certificates were one of the accusations labelled against Governor Sakaja by Nairobi County Assembly lawmakers during their call for his impeachment. According to the unions, the issuance of the certificates has been going on "secretly" under some unnamed cartels in the county, terming the move as illegal and unethical and unacceptable. "We want to believe that the governor was misled by technical officers whose interests were to make quick monies at the expense of human life," said KEHPHU Nairobi branch Secretary General, Raphael Muli. Muli criticised the county for abdicating its duty to protect the lives of city dwellers. "We don't even know whether these private facilities are tested, or the specimens are taken and they are thrown away, and certificates are just issued," he stated. He expressed concerns about the possibility of many hospitality staff holding fake licenses and many others taking advantage of the current loophole. Walter Omiti, KEHPHU Nairobi branch chairman, said that the privatisation of the issuance of the certificates affects the county's revenue negatively. "These services are also supposed to generate funds for the county. That means somebody wants the money to go somewhere else and yet the county will be crying that they don't have the funds," he noted. Our attempts to reach the county health member of executive for comment were unsuccessful.

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City Hall faces legal battle over licensing of hotel workers

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