Machakos County Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua has asked health workers at the Machakos Level Five hospital to resume work saying that the county is ready to address their issues.
The more than 700 health workers are now on their second day of striking over allegations that the county government has failed to remit their tax dues to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) among others.
Dr. Mutua said on Monday that the workers’ issues are being addressed saying that the failure to remit the taxes could have been due to a technical problem.
Mutua added that the county government is keen on ensuring that health workers’ welfare is catered for to avert crisis in the sector.
“We appeal to the health workers to resume work as we addressed their problems,” said Mutua in the statement he released on Monday.
The health workers complained that despite their tax dues being reflected on their payslips, the money has not been remitted to NHIF, KRA and NSSF.
Speaking to the press on Monday, County Nursing Services Union secretary Halima Aden blamed the county’s finance department for playing games with their taxes.
She said that despite various complaints on the issues being raised by the the health wokers, the finance department has not issued any official response on the same.
“We have on several occasions written to the finance department to have the matter addressed but nothing has changed so far,” said Secretary Aden.
She said that failure to remit their taxes by the county has made them suffer a lot adding that some opportunities like getting loans they could not qualify to get, among other services like medical and other services.
Halima said that workers will only go back to work when the county shall have remitted their tax dues to the relevant authorities.
Patients who had visited the Machakos Level Five hospital on Monday suffered in agony as no one was there to attend to them.
Some of the patients raised concerns asking the county government to do something urgently to avert the crisis in the county’s health sector.
Pauline Mugasia, a mother who had brought her child for treatment said that the strike will affect many sick patients if the government fails to do something.
“Governor Dr. Mutua should talk to the nurses so that we can get services as usual,” said Mugasia.