Over 1400 CHPs protest over 13-month stipend delay

**Community health promoters (CHPs) display their kits during a past event in Kisii County.** [File, Standard]

Dozens of Community Health Promoters (CHPs) stormed Taita Taveta County Assembly to demand their 13-month pay.

The CHPs from the Wundanyi-Mbale ward told Members of County Assembly (MCAs) that the county owes them a 13-month stipend.

Over 1400 CHPs in Voi, Mwatate, Wundanyi and Taveta sub-counties play a major role in the fight against diseases.

Speaking after meeting the Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee at the chambers on Wednesday, the CHPs noted their efforts were being curtailed by the delayed pay.

The CHPs are supposed to receive a monthly stipend of Sh 5000, with both the national and county governments each paying Sh 2,500.

“We will withdraw our crucial services in the region if they don’t pay us our 13-month stipend arrears. We also have children to feed and educate, and failure to pay us our paltry stipend has negatively affected our livelihoods,“warned Johnston Mwatoa, one of the protesting CHPs in the area.

Mbololo Ward representative Lawrence Mzugha said CHPs had been complaining to his office about the long delay in paying them their monthly stipend.

“The protest about the delay in paying the CHPs their monthly stipend on time has been prevalent. We are tired of this hue and cry from the service providers,” the Assembly Deputy Majority Leader told The Standard in Wundanyi town yesterday.

Mwatoa said the Wundanyi-Mbale ward representative, who is also the budget committee chairperson, Jimmy Mwamidi, has assured them that they will be paid their pending dues.

“We met with the budget committee members, who promised to review our concerns. The MCAs promised us they will compel the county administration to pay us our pending dues,” disclosed the CHP.

The delay comes despite the assembly and executive allocating funds to pay the CHPs in the last financial year. Governor Andrew Madame allocated Sh27.9 million for the CHPs’ stipends.

“We have not received our stipend for 13 months from the county government, protested Mwatoa yesterday.

A senior health official confirmed the delays but asked the CHPs to be patient as efforts were being made to address their plight.

“The CHPs should bear with us, and we are doing everything possible to settle their dues as soon as they offer critical services at the grassroots level,” said the senior official at the health department.

Earlier, the governor and his deputy, Christine Kilalo, said the administration has strived to improve the working conditions for the county staff, especially those from the health sector.

The protest over delayed payment comes when the county is still grappling with revenue collection, huge pending bills and a bloated workforce that has badly affected delivery of quality services.