Services in 48 health facilities in Mandera County have been paralysed as strike by over 350 health workers entered its third day.
Patients seeking treatment at the health facilities were left unattended as the workers boycotted duties over unmet grievances by their employer- Mandera County.
Many in-patients, including severely sick children and expectant mothers were left on their own writhing in pain with their helpless relatives consoling them. Other patients resorted to taking pain killers bought over the counter from the local chemists.
Speaking to The press, the secretary general of Kenya National Union of Nurses Mandera branch Mohamednur Maalim said they will press on with the strike until the County Government improves the working conditions of the health workers in the area.
“Our members and union officials are being threatened and intimidated by the senior County Government officials, but we shall not relent on boycotting offering the highly needed health services until our concerns are addressed as agreed last year,” he explained.
The union official said the striking health workers demands were legitimate since they were only asking for improvement of their working condition such as provision of adequate medical kits and rehabilitation of staff quarters, which are in deplorable conditions.
“Our health providers are working in extremely stressing circumstance, where the working conditions are deplorable conditions and when they retire from job, they don’t get the deserving rest due to the poor states of the staff quarters, where the most health worker lives. Most of houses accommodating health workers had leaking roofs,” he said.
Among other many demands the health workers want improved hardship allowance from Sh600 to Sh20,000 monthly, risk allowance from Sh3,000 to Sh30,000 per month due to the prevailing security risk posed by lurking Somalia based al-Shabaab militia.