Saturday, April 30, 2022

Kenya: Machakos Level 5 Hospital Cleaners on Strike Over Unpaid Dues



Machakos — Cleaners at the Machakos Level 5 hospital have gone on strike even as they called on their employer to pay up their accrued dues of more than 10 months.

The cleaners said they had been engaged on casual basis by a company known as Diana King which is owned by one John Kioko.

They said the hospital administration was aware of their plight, but no one was willing to address their grievances.

"The hospital administration is aware of our grievances and should compel the contractor to pay our dues," said an aggrieved worker.

She pointed out that they had been assembling at the hospital every day seeking for help, but no one would listen to their cries.

"I have a child in form four and I do not have school fees in addition to many other household needs. We are asking the authorities to come to our aide," said another cleaner.

The cleaners said they had been engaged on a sh1,500 per day but the contractor hired other cleaners when they demanded their pay.

The Auditor General in the latest report flagged the procurement of cleaning services at the hospital as irregular as the procurement records examined indicated that the county government awarded a contract for provision of cleaning services at Machakos Level 5 hospital in October 2018 and the contact was valued at Sh2.5 million per month or Sh30 million for a period of two years to October 2020.

However, the firm continued to provide the service after expiry of the contract.

Further, the annual bill of Sh30 million was above the legal threshold amount of sh3 million for use of request for quotation method for procurement of services set out in the public procurement and use(Amendment) regulations 2013, according to the Auditor General's report.

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