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"id": 1401101,
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"content": "[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) in the Chair]"
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"id": 1401102,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Nakhumicha",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 520,
"legal_name": "Reginalda Nakhumicha Wanyonyi",
"slug": "reginalda-nakhumicha-wanyonyi"
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"content": "The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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"id": 1401103,
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"text_counter": 264,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Nakhumicha",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Health",
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"legal_name": "Reginalda Nakhumicha Wanyonyi",
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"content": "The negotiation reconciliations seek to comprehensively address all grievances leading to the strike. As part of its mandate, the whole nation committee has reviewed all the 19 issues raised in the notice of industrial action and classified them into priority areas. Six of the issues raised were classified to relate to the national Government, while nine of the issues were classified to relate to the county government. Four issues fell under concurrent mandates of both the two levels of Government. As that process was ongoing, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers on 25th March, 2024 issued a strike notice citing 10 demands. The Ministry went ahead to have a meeting with the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) to forestall the strike. Of the 10 demands from the KUCO, they narrowed down to two main demands. This is the failure of both levels of Government to obey a court order that directed the Government to finalize a CBA with the KUCO and register the CBA in court. The second main demand was a failure to enhance the risk allowance paid to clinical officers. The Union wants the risk allowance to be increased from the current Kshs3,000 to Kshs15,000 per month. This will apply to all the clinical officers within the country. I would like to clarify that of the 14,000 clinical officers in the country, only 158 are in the purview of the national Government. In the same breath, on the 26th March, 2024, the Kenya Union of Medical Laboratory Officers (KUMLO) issued a strike notice citing failure by the Government to formulate and sign a recognition agreement with the union. The second issue is a failure by the Government to confirm permanent and pensionable all Universal Health Care (UHC) staff, COVID-19 employees, UHC interns and National Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Programme (NTLD-P) fund employees. The other demands that were raised were all discussed by the Ministry of Health in a meeting with them. The industrial action has had a significant impact on healthcare services. This has resulted in unavailability and delay in health service delivery amongst the Kenyans. It has compromised the quality of care and equally disrupted the referral system. This impact has the potential to contribute to catastrophic health expenditures and adverse health outcomes for the population. Ultimately, the country stands to lose gains made in key health indicators including maternal health, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), TB, malaria and Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs). From our checks, referral facilities and specialized outpatient services are significantly affected at 33 per cent and 25 per cent reduction in specialist and outpatient services. So, what has the Ministry done in terms of the crisis? I confirm that the Ministry has categorized the crisis into three issues; short-term measures, which we are working on; medium-term measures and long-term measures. In the short-term measures, the Ministry has already posted interns in line with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) advisory. A total of 1,270 diploma clinical officer interns have already been posted and reported. Posting letters for 1,210 medical officers, pharmacists and dental officer interns have been sent to respective interns and their names have been published in the newspaper to inform them of their places of posting. It is expected that they start reporting from 15th March, 2024. The posting letters of the next The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1401104,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1401104/?format=api",
"text_counter": 265,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Nakhumicha",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 520,
"legal_name": "Reginalda Nakhumicha Wanyonyi",
"slug": "reginalda-nakhumicha-wanyonyi"
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"content": "cadre of interns are ready, that is, the nursing officers with degrees and clinical officers with degrees. As I speak, a number have started picking them. The Ministry has also requested for Kshs267 million for payment of postgraduate registrar fee arrears, which was an issue raised by the Kenya Medical Practioners Pharmacists Dentist Union (KMPDU). It falls under the purview of the national Government. I want to confirm that the Ministry has received confirmation by the National Treasury to release Kshs200 million towards payment of postgraduate registrar fee arrears. The Ministry has also requested the SRC to advise on the demand by the clinical officers’ union to have their risk allowance increased. We understand that this is going to have an impact on the overall budget. That is why we have requested the SRC to give guidelines. Once the SRC gives guidelines, then the Ministry will be in a position to implement. The Ministry has also requested the Public Service Commission (PSC) to review the clinical officers’ career progression guidelines, so that this can be communicated to them. Concerning medical laboratory officers, the Ministry has already written to the Association of Kenya Medical Laboratory Scientific Officers (AKMLSO), informing them of the criteria required for them to be recognized as a union. Once the medical laboratory officers have met the requirements of a union, the Ministry will work towards the recognition agreement that they are pursuing. Regarding the midterm measures, the Ministry of Health is reviewing the internship policy to address aspects of the programme, including the need to transit to internship without any delay. What is happening is that some interns have been out for more than a year. That delays them from getting the license that they need to practice. Consequently, the Ministry is working on a policy. Yesterday, we finalised internal stakeholders’ validation. Next week we shall finalise external stakeholder validation. We will invite the Senate because that is something we think we can benefit from the wisdom of the Members during the external stakeholder validation. The Ministry is also ready to negotiate on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This is because the other CBA with the KMPDU lapsed in 2021. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, once a CBA has lapsed, a new one comes to effect upon being signed. On long-term measures, the Ministry is in the process of developing a human resource for health policy to address all aspects of human resource for health in the country, the entire spectrum of the value chain from production, supply, internship, regulation, employment, retention and distribution of stock density, skill mix and motivation, productivity and general management. The Ministry is also in the process of fully operationalizing the Kenya Health Human Resource Advisory Council (KHHRAC) to enable it execute its mandate. This entails providing the necessary budget and finalization of HR instruments in order to obtain the necessary skills and capacities to execute its mandate. Another measure is that conciliation meetings are ongoing as well as the whole of nation approach ordered by the court. The court case is actually up for mention today and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1401105,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1401105/?format=api",
"text_counter": 266,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Nakhumicha",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 520,
"legal_name": "Reginalda Nakhumicha Wanyonyi",
"slug": "reginalda-nakhumicha-wanyonyi"
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"content": "the parties are expected to present the progress to the conciliation committee and World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). The court is also expected to determine whether the doctors’ strike is protected or not. I would like to inform Members of this House that the Ministry is doing its level best to ensure that the human resources for health matters are handled permanently. We seek your support. One of the sticky issues is the internship, which arises because we now have many interns. Previously, we only had one university that used to train doctors; the University of Nairobi (UoN). At the moment, the country has eight universities training doctors. Currently, we have over a thousand graduates from the universities. Internship centres and specialists have not increased, thus we remain with the same number. The Ministry is working on how to manage the process from the time one enters into university. How do we manage it, so that by the time they are coming out for internship, the Ministry is ready for them? The biggest question is: how do we ensure as a country that we actually provide employment to these doctors once they finish their internship? What stands between us, and that is, availability of resources. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I submit."
},
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Senators, we are now going to allow you to put questions to the Cabinet Secretary regarding the Statement. In terms of time management, we have 45 minutes, but we have 12 or 13 Members who want to ask questions. There is a request that we first allow Members who have not asked any question this morning followed by those who have asked questions. We are going to proceed that way. Hon. Senators, please, keep your questions short. Hon. Cabinet Secretary, I also urge you to keep your answers short and precise, so that we can manage the time and finish in good time. The first question by Sen. Kavindu Muthama."
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"id": 1401107,
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"text_counter": 268,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Kavindu Muthama",
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"id": 13733,
"legal_name": "Agnes Kavindu Muthama",
"slug": "agnes-kavindu-muthama"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, my question starts from where we had stopped before on the statement by the Cabinet Secretary. First of all, I want to congratulate her because she is firm on her job. I congratulate you as a woman Cabinet Secretary. My question to Madam Cabinet Secretary is about Bishop Kioko Catholic Hospital in Machakos. The Bishop called me three years ago, complaining to me that their monies have not been remitted by the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF). This is something that worries many hospitals because they do not know their fate after the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) takes over from the NHIF. Madam Cabinet Secretary, you have told us that money has been released already. You need to give us the timeline, so that when we talk to them, we assure them about the timelines that they are going to get their monies. My Governor has been complaining about remittances by the NHIF to hospitals in Machakos, and this issue cuts across the whole country. Therefore, kindly, give us timelines. As a mother and Cabinet Secretary, we request you to see how to end the doctors’ strike because we are losing many people in this country. I am sure you have The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
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{
"id": 1401108,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1401108/?format=api",
"text_counter": 269,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Kavindu Muthama",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13733,
"legal_name": "Agnes Kavindu Muthama",
"slug": "agnes-kavindu-muthama"
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"content": "reached somewhere in terms of the negotiations. Could you tell us something about the timelines and when the doctors will go back to work to start working as usual?"
},
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"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1401109/?format=api",
"text_counter": 270,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Abdul Haji",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you. Proceed, Sen. Cherarkey."
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"id": 1401110,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1401110/?format=api",
"text_counter": 271,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13217,
"legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
"slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, just a follow up on the presentation of---"
}
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