By Isaac Salima:
Health service delivery in public health facilities across the country was disrupted yesterday as support healthcare workers went on a sit-in.
Hospital attendants, ward clerks, laundry assistants and other concerned healthcare workers under the Third Arm Health Workers Network staged the sit-in, saying they wanted the government to pay their 52 percent salary hike arrears, which they say have now accumulated to K45 billion.
The workers’ representative, Balawala Vingula, said that they want the government to comply with a determination by the Office of the Ombudsman to award them their increment.
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“We would like to send a message to officials that we want our money. The determination was made around two decades ago, but officials have not complied. Now we are fed up with this. We will not return to work until our demands are met,” Vingula said.
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He added that they had given officials 60 days to respond to the issue, but there has been no action.
The issue dates back to 2006 when the Ministry of Health raised salaries for health workers, including auxiliary health workers, by 52 percent.
However, the support staff only received the new salaries for about six months before they were removed from the list because they apparently did not qualify as health professionals.
The workers then took the matter to the Ombudsman, who, in a ruling in 2008, ordered the government to include support staff as health workers and to pay them their salary arrears for the increment.
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According to the workers, however, the government has not complied since then, and the amount has now accumulated to K45 billion.
In many public health facilities Tuesday, workers were seen singing and dancing outside the premises.
This development affected sanitation issues, as the workers are responsible for laundering for the patients and providing cleaning services.
At Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, we found some clinicians performing tasks that were supposed to be carried out by hospital attendants.
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Samson Mndolo said that he was in a meeting when we sought his reaction to the strike.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Adrian Chikumbe, told the local press that he was surprised by the workers’ decision to down tools.
“We were supposed to meet on Friday to find a way forward on this issue and we are surprised by their decision,” Chikumbe said.
