Ministry to pay 300 trainee doctors salaries
What you need to know:
- In a protest letter to Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich Monday, Dr Kidero said the arrangement was “untenable and would not be done from the county government’s end”.
- Dr Kidero stated that Nairobi was given only Sh11.34 billion by the National Government and could not shoulder additional obligations outside budgetary provisions.
- However, Cabinet Secretary for Health James Macharia told the Nation that the National Government had sent money to Nairobi County to pay the doctors.
The National Government will pay over 300 trainee doctors their dues for this month after Nairobi County Government disowned them.
Dr Evans Kidero’s government has stated that henceforth, it will not pay the medical staff attached to Kenyatta National Hospital.
The trainee doctors have been receiving money from Nairobi County since last year after Dr Kidero agreed to include them in the county payroll.
However, the Health ministry, through the National Treasury, was supposed to finance the arrangement until the doctors completed their degree programmes.
Trouble started in July this year when Nairobi County delayed their salary by two months. It later released the medics’ payslips but failed to deposit money into their accounts, which only happened later in August.
PROTEST LETTER
In a protest letter to Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich Monday, Dr Kidero said the arrangement was “untenable and would not be done from the county government’s end”.
Dr Kidero stated that Nairobi was given only Sh11.34 billion by the National Government and could not shoulder additional obligations outside budgetary provisions.
County Health Executive Timothy King’ondu said the arrangement was only transitional.
However, Cabinet Secretary for Health James Macharia told the Nation that the National Government had sent money to Nairobi County to pay the doctors.
Mr Macharia added that his ministry was troubled by the persistent problems facing the medics.
“We will not let them have the same problem every month trying to inquire about unpaid salaries. We have made arrangements with Treasury to pay them so that they can concentrate on treating Kenyans,” he said.
Dr Macharia said there were no discussions on whether the money will be recovered from the county.
