Turkana health workers decry delays in promotions

Health workers in Turkana have criticized the county government for failing to promote them despite several promises.

They claim the lack of promotions is demoralizing the workforce and urged Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai to address the issue.

Joseph Cheboi, the Secretary General of the Kenya Clinical Officers Association, said the workers have waited for long and it is now time to act.

“I want to tell Governor Lomorukai that this issue of promoting health workers needs to be handled urgently. These people work day and night to serve the community. They deserve motivation,” Cheboi said during a recent stakeholders' engagement in Lodwar.

In 2023, the county government initiated a process asking health workers to submit documents for promotion reviews.

Interviews were conducted, paperwork completed, and hopes raised across hospitals and health centres. However, the health workers claim none of them has ever received a letter of promotion.

In towns like Kakuma, Lokichoggio, Lokori, Kapedo, Kibish, Kalokol, Katilu, and far-flung dispensaries deep in the rural parts of Turkana, health workers wake up daily to serve patients, deliver babies, run emergency units, and manage outbreaks in facilities that are understaffed and under-equipped.

“I have worked in the same position for nearly a decade,” shared one nurse based in Kakuma.

“You put your life on the line, travel through rough terrain, deliver babies in the middle of the night with no electricity… and then you're told to wait for a promotion that never comes. It’s hard to stay motivated.”

In Lodwar, a clinical officer expressed similar disappointment. “We were hopeful when we were called for interviews. But it's been over a year now. No one tells us anything. It’s like we don’t matter.”

Several medics have already left government hospitals to take up jobs in private facilities where they feel more appreciated. Others have applied to transfer to different counties or even outside the country.