Machinga health workers threaten to on strike over unpaid allowances

Health workers in Machinga have threatened to go on strike over delays by government to pay them relief allowances for working during the festive season due to the cholera outbreak which hit the district late last year.

Over 20 health workers, including nurses and medical officers from Kawinga, Ntaja, Nayuchi, Namanja and M’banila health facilities are planning to strike, according to sources.

They are supposed to receive an amount calculated at K20,000 per day from December 23 last year when cholera cases were reported in the district to Monday January 18 this year.

They worked day and night in a very risky environment, the sources say, adding that they suspect that government already disbursed the money but that the district health office is just playing tricks.

But in an interview Tuesday both Minister of Health, Peter Kumpalume, and Machinga District Health Office (DHO) spokesperson, Clifton Ngozo, expressed ignorance on the matter.

“Normally they needed to write us (the ministry) through the DHO on the matter but as of now nobody has written the ministry complaining about allowances, so until we hear from them we cannot act,’’ said Kumpalume.

He also said, government cannot act on issues just because they are in the media, adding that health personnel needed to formally complain to the ministry before any action.

But in a separate interview, Ngozo expressed ignorance on the impending strike by the health workers but confirmed that the office did not disburse the allowances.

“Immediately after the cholera outbreak, we engaged partners such as Medicins Sans Frontier who also have been responsible for these relief allowances and to that end they provided allowances to health workers at M’banila health facility,” Ngozo said.

But workers at Namanja health facility, which oversees operations at M’banila, said they are yet to receive any allowances as Medicins San Frontier has only promised them an undisclosed amount in bonuses end this month.

Since the cholera outbreak, Machinga District has recorded a cumulative total of over 256 cases and 11 deaths.