County to employ retired nurses over strike

County to employ retired nurses over strike

The county government of Nyeri has called on retired nurses to apply for positions to replace the striking ones.

Addressing the media, the County Executive in charge of health Dr. Charles Githinji said the retired nurses will be absorbed on contractual basis.

He said that the decision was reached after nurses defied the Industrial Court order to resume duties immediately.

Githinji said that the salary for the workers who had not issued a strike notice has been stopped forthwith.

This comes as the government denied reports that it is planning to revert the health sector to the national management if the county governments do not resolve the ongoing crisis.

Speaking on Radio Citizen’s Jambo Kenya programme on Friday, Deputy President William Ruto said health is a devolved function and cannot be reverted and will continue being managed by the county governments.

The DP said the health crisis being experienced in most parts of the country is as a result of poor resources management by the counties and not the fault of the national government.

“The national government has always played its part by sending money to counties. What they do with the money is not our business. If they pay their staff or not is not for us to follow up,” said Ruto.

On Thursday, the Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. James Macharia said that the national government would not hesitate from taking back the health docket if the current crisis is not resolved as soon as possible by the counties.

Dr. Macharia said the national government will not sit down and watch as the health sector plunges into a crisis, a statement that is likely to cause friction between the national and county governments.

According to statistics from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU), the number of Kenyans who have lost their lives while seeking treatment has doubled in the last two years.

The statistics indicate that 420,000 Kenyans died last year alone with blame falling on the health crisis in the country.

The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has stated that it was a mistake to devolve health.

In the wake of a crisis in the sector due to cases of striking health workers, the giant trade union warned of a bigger problem if the current impasse is not resolved urgently.

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strike nyeri county employ County Executive in charge of health Dr. Charles Githinji retired nurses

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