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"speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
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"legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
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"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, first of all, I thank you for the confidence in both the Senator for Meru and I to execute that duty that you sent us to do on behalf of the House. Indeed, we have had a conversation with members of the KMPDU and also UHC workers from across the country. They were the guests who were making all that merry outside our gate. As the Senator for Meru has said, these are not new matters. It is compliance by the national Government and the county governments with a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that was signed after that long strike that we had with Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union (KMPDU). Apparently, the concerned Government agencies are not complying with that. Secondly, they say that even though the counties are deducting the 2.75 per cent of Social Health Authority (SHA) every month, they are not remitting it to the Authority. Therefore, these are medical practitioners who are taking care of us, but when they fall sick, the SHA is not honouring those claims because the county governments are not remitting the 2.75 per cent that they deduct. That is unacceptable. It is in the place of this House to ensure that there is compliance by county governments in terms of remittance of all deductions from salaried workers. Lastly, there is the issue which we have discussed here many times about absorption of the Universal Health Care (UHC) workers, especially those who are not working in national hospitals. We had that debate here where a few of their colleagues were absorbed and now they are on permanent and pensionable basis. Those who were not absorbed have the same roles and execute the same workload, but they are paid almost three times less than their colleagues on permanent and pensionable basis. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have our suggestion to them and they have agreed. We want to beseech this House to deal with this issue with the sort of dignity that it requires. We cannot have our medical practitioners on the streets out there. We have invited them and I 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."
}