Clinical Psychologists have not been paid their dues dating back to August 2020.
Saddled with debts and other bills, some are now on the verge of mental breakdown contemplating the unthinkable.
It is a sad case.
The clinical allowances, that they are demanding, were instrumental in the counselling sessions that they (clinical psychologists) provided to people who were suffering from or affected by Covid-19.
The frustrated medics have tried engaging the Ministry of Health (MoH) several times but have not been successful.
In December 2022, they wrote a letter asking President William Ruto to help them received their pay but they have not received any response.
A man named George Amute, who boasts of closer ties with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, was out in charge of processing the dues by the CEO of Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
Mr Amute has been quoted as saying that, “hawezi pelekwa mahali”, while unnecessarily delaying the allowances.
“All these were perpetrated by one George Amute or SRC who had been assigned the Duty by the CEO SRC to fast track our issue. The issue is done but doesn’t want to release the letter to MoH, he says no one can take him anywhere since he’s related to Moses Wetangula, colluding with one Albert Mokua who is the Director Human Resource,” a clinical psychologist told cnyakundi.com
The December 2022 letter to the president had detailed all their complaints.
The medics say that they first received their salaries in November 2020, but allowances were missing.
“The issue, subject of the complaint, is since we first received our salaries in November 2020, the allowances were not factored in and have never been factored in to date. These are: 1) Health Risk Allowance Kshs. 3,000 2) Health Service Allowance Kshs. 20,000 3) Health Service Allowance Kshs. 15, 000 4) Emergency Call Allowance Kshs. 10, 000 5) Extraneous Allowance as per County Posted,” the letter said in part
The payslips issued to the clinical psychologists were also tampered with.
“In addition to having allowances not being paid, we realized our payslips indicated our cadre as “Counsellor II” instead of “Clinical Psychologist I” as it was in the PSC advertisement, our initial contract letter of offer and subsequent renewals”.
Conmanship
When their complaints reached MoH, the Ministry inserted a clause in the contract that shifted the blame. The blame-shifting game has been ongoing now for months.
“It is very disheartening to report that there has been no official response from the Ministry apart from a paragraph in our subsequent contract renewals stating “… that some allowances were captured erroneously and that the ministry is still in consultation with SRC to approve the allowances.” This statement was dubiously inserted into our renewed contracts back in February 2021. We weren’t parties to such variation in our terms of engagement as we had acted purely based on the initial offer and had legitimate expectation that the same would be honoured. Nonetheless, we are unaware of any progress on the said discussions since. The ambiguity and vagueness of this statement is very disheartening and demotivating,” the letter to President William Ruto revealed.
Despite constant reminders, the MoH and the Government Human Resource Integrated System (GHRIS) still captures the clinical psychologists as Counsellor II.
“The allowances are yet to be included in our payslip and our cadre is still wrongly captured as “Counsellor II’ instead of “Clinical Psychologist I” in the GHRIS (Government Human Resource Integrated System)”.
They are now asking the president to “intervene administratively in the spirit of the new government to provide leadership and direction so that this matter is conclusively resolved to alleviate the dismay and anguish that Clinical Psychologists under the ministry of health are undergoing”.
Request to President William Ruto
Their request is summarized below:
We are therefore humbly requesting for the following:
- To be placed in our rightful Job Cadre, namely “Clinical Psychologist I’ as per our employment letters and subsequent renewals.
- To be paid our rightful Salaries and Clinical Allowances as per our Contractual Agreement when we were hired by the PSC.
- That the unpaid allowances be paid in arrears without undue delay (Since August2020).
Also for your Kind Consideration:
- The enhancement of our terms of service from Contractual to Permanent and Pensionable as per the former President directive for all Civil Servants initially hired on Contractual Terms.
- Payment of Service Gratuity for the years already work.
- Enhancement of our Job Group from the “J” to ‘L” based on our academic andprofessional qualifications and the years (3) worked.
We would greatly appreciate if you hear our humble cries and reasonable requests as Clinical Psychologist. Thank you for the opportunity and listening ear.
The letter to the president attached the below:
- Letter dated 03/02/22 addressed to Dr, Frank Njenga in his Capacity as a PresidentialAdvisor on Mental Health
- Letter dated 03/02/22 addressed to the PS Ministry of Health
- Letter dated 03/02/22 addressed to the Chairperson Salaries and Renumeration Commission
- Letter dated 23/02/22 addressed to the Director General MOH, Dr. Frank Njenga
- Letter dated 23/02/22 addressed by the Ombudsman to MOH
- Letter dated 10/05/22 letter by MOH replying to MOH
