Things are not getting better for Nairobi County Workers

Nairobi County Workers

Calling off their strike a week ago to pave way for negotiations, City Hall workers have entered a third month without medical cover.

Terminating a Sh1.06 billion-a-year contract with AAR on December 31st, the County Government to hire an insurer.

Speaking to the media in an interview, the county workers said they had been denied services at city hospitals because their cover was no longer valid.

AAR chief operations officer Mercy Ndegwa had last month said the firm bid for a new contract and is still awaiting City Hall to complete the procurement process.

“AAR is not currently providing services until the procurement process is completed,” the firm said in a statement yesterday.

This comes as another blow to workers after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) last week shrugged off their push for increased pay.D

While the workers called off their strike to pave way the way for further negotiations, the SRC has warned that a domino effect resulting from acceding to the workers demand would cost the county additional Sh23.5bn

County secretary for Nairobi Pauline Kahiga who had last month said the cover for all workers was valid did not respond to calls and text messages on the matter by the time of publishing this article.

The absence of a valid medical cover imply that the close to 12,000 workers will remain exposed until the lengthy procurement process is concluded. Nairobi has in the past grappled with corruption allegations in the awarding of the multimillion shilling medical cover contract.

City Hall was last year locked in a court suit amid accusations of favouring AAR, which has been the provider of medical insurance since 2015.

A section of MCAs accused the county government of cancelling an earlier tender awarded to Britam on technical hitches.

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