Services at the Coast Provincial General Hospital morgue were paralysed today, after mortuary attendants joined other workers in street protests to demand increased allowances and equal pay for health workers.
The morticians walked out of the mortuary and left mourners who had come to pick body of their loved one for burial stranded.
Desperate mourners could be seen camping outside the mortuary gate with coffins awaiting to be given bodies of their deceased kins for burial.
The morticians together with medical workers from other cadres including; occupational therapists, medical engineers, clinical officers, nutritionists, lab technicians among others under the auspice of the Kenya Health Professional Society (KPHS) Mombasa chapter, held peaceful demonstrations calling on the County government of Mombasa to implement payment of the health service allowance and on call allowance.
Branch Secretary Joash Matanda accused the national and county government of discriminating against them by leaving them out in nurses and doctors salary negotiations.
“We are saying that we do not want discrimination. We are saying the healthcare service industry is a team work service. If they cannot implement the two allowances we are tired of doing donkey work, we need our payments now,” he said.
Matanda said the workers will camp at the governors office till their demands are met, saying the county government had ignored their grievances for a long time.