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Kenya: Sh160m Released to Clear Nurses' Dues
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The Nation (Nairobi)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Kenneth Ogosia And Mike Mwaniki
Nairobi
The Government has released Sh160 million to clear salary arrears for nurses who worked for the Clinton Foundation.
The Medical Services minister, Prof Anyang' Nyong'o, on Thursday said the issue of the nurses' dues will be sorted out because his permanent secretary Dr Hezron Nyangito had approved the funds for payment.
He said all nurses who were directly engaged by the Clinton Foundation had been paid by Danish aid agency Danida.
The rest of the nurses were being paid by the Government through the Global Fund, which experienced financial difficulties last year.
"I have approved Sh160 million, which will be used to pay the nurses and now that the Global Fund malaria monies have been reinstated, we shall not have problems with the nurses," Dr Nyangito said.
Prof Nyong'o said doctors implicated in mismanagement of the National Hospital Insurance Fund were treated harshly by the Kanu government.
He said their discontinued healthcare programmes have hampered healthcare services in the country.
Brain-drain
Prof Nyong'o repeated his support for doctors involved in NHIF scandals.
"The arrest and closure of the hospitals amounted to brain-drain and mass collapse of health care services because today many patients travel several distances to reach NHIF-recommended private and public hospitals," he said. In the early 1990s, the Government arrested several doctors running private hospitals for swindling the NHIF of millions of shillings through fake claims.
The move led to the collapse of several nursing homes and many medical experts suffered setbacks and had their practise licenses withdrawn.
Those who survived the swoop either fled the country or are living in squalor as Government contracted doctors.
Elsewhere, nurses working in public hospitals will be paid Sh3,000 uniform allowance this month.
The cash has been pending since 2006.
Go on strike
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Despite the payment, Kenya Progressive Nurses Association officials on Thursday warned that their plans to go on strike next month were still on.
Led by their chairman, Mr James Muiruri, they said if their demands were not met, they would go on strike on June 16 "as earlier planned".
They want their risk allowance to be increased from the current Sh1,350 to Sh20,000, among other demands.
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