By GPC Reorter and GPS, Nyamira
Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo has warned county employees against absenteeism, saying those who fail to report to work will face disciplinary action.
The governor issued the warning on Friday as he presided over the issuance of employment letters to 224 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) officers who have been employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
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The ceremony was held at Nyamira County Referral Hospital, where the health workers received their appointment letters after six years of service under contractual terms.
“No worker deserves a salary at the end of every month without being on duty,” Nyaribo warned.
He said he would not hesitate to institute disciplinary measures against medical staff and other county employees found absent from duty.
While welcoming the newly employed health workers, the governor assured them that the county government would address their welfare concerns, including outstanding gratuity for the period they served on contract.
“You will get your outstanding gratuity for the period you worked on contract,” he told the health workers.
Nyaribo explained that the officers had remained on contractual terms for years because of concerns over the sustainability of funding for their salaries under the UHC programme.
He said the Council of Governors (CoG) had been pushing the national government to provide adequate resources to support the workers’ salaries throughout their employment.
“Some of you have been saying that governors have been unwilling to employ you on permanent and pensionable terms. To the contrary, we have, through CoG, been fighting for you to get more resources from the national government that can sustain your monthly salaries for your entire period of employment,” he said.
The governor added that the President had signed off on increased funding to county governments to support the UHC workers.
Nyaribo also announced that other county employees would benefit from salary increments announced by the national government before January.
“Other staff members will get salary increments announced by the national government before January,” he said.
He explained that the county government had not immediately implemented the salary adjustments announced by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) because they came after the county had already prepared its budget.
The timing, he said, had made it difficult to accommodate the additional expenditure immediately.
The governor also challenged management committees of health facilities across Nyamira County to ensure that hospitals and dispensaries did not experience shortages of essential medicines.
“There is plenty of drugs in our Drug Revolving Fund stores and therefore no rural facility should miss them,” he said.
He urged the committees to ensure medicines available through the county’s Drug Revolving Fund stores reached facilities serving residents, including those in rural areas.
