Covid 19 frontline health workers call for absorption by government after abrupt cease of their five-year contract

A section of the Covid 19 Health Emergency Response Project (CHERP) team has called on the government to consider them for absorption in different parts of the country after the sudden end of their five-year contract.

The health workers said that during induction, they were notified that the contract would last till 2025 but were prematurely ousted from their job posts.

“We the udersigned wish to bring to the attention of respective offices of health workers who accepted the call to fight the Covid 19 pandemic at a time of widespread fear and panic. We were deployed to various points of entry, national and county referral hospitals and national reference labs. We as a team gave ourselves wholly and selflessly to defend our nation under the surge program under the ministry of health,” they said.

“As the CHERP team, we kindly request the government through the Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Health to consider us for absorption just like our fellow officers-the UHC team whom we’re working with under the same conditions being in line for absorption and confirmation into permanent and pensionable just as the 2015 Ebola team was rewarded with the same.”

According to the health workers, they served for two years and their contract ended abruptly and not for five years as it was stated before.

“During the pandemic, we served diligently and moreover the UN convoy to Nairobi applauded our efforts. Despite our fruitful endeavors we encountered challenges as is norm in the working areas including the loss of our colleagues who died in the line of duty while most of us contracted the deadly virus,” they added.

The doctors claim that even though most of their colleagues’ lives were put in line when they contracted the deadly virus amid making sure that the country remained stable during the trying time, they were forced to cater for themselves as no medical covers were available.

Additionally, the health workers ask for immediate redeployment to the designated areas where they were working during the Covid 19 period.

“We’ve heard that the government is planning to employ 20,000 healthcare providers across the country. We are appealing to the government to consider us first because we really served the country wholeheartedly,” they noted.

They called on Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumincha to reach out and address their plea.

“We humbly request the government through the Ministry of health and other related organisations and dignitaries to recognise and act upon our request,” they said.

“We want to give back to the community, and are grateful for the opportunity that we got during the Covid 19 pandemic.”