By Betty Luke
Isiolo county government is once again on the spot over delayed payment of monthly stipends for Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who conduct health education and ensure children are immunized and expectant women attend clinics at the community level.
A section of the over 800 CHVs on Monday took to the streets protesting against the delayed payment saying that despite initially being promised Sh6, 000, the agreement is yet to be honoured.
The group further said that they initially used to receive a maximum of Sh2, 000 every month but was later increased by Sh4, 000 but nothing instead continued getting Sh2000 whose payment was not regular.
“We are volunteers and could be doing the community work without payments had they not promised us the money. It is sad that we cannot provide for our families whereas they know we have been working,” Mr Stephen Mbaabu who serves 115 households in Bulapesa ward said.
The workers said their work was too demanding and tiresome as had to wake up early every day early to ensure they visited a reasonable number of the households.
“My day starts very early in the morning because at the end of the month, I am expected to compile a report and all families must be checked at least once in a month,” the worker noted.
Ms Madina Dina, who serves 110 households in Tuluroba, said the county’s failure to pay the agreed Sh6, 000 amount was slowly creating rifts in their families as their spouses were accusing them of lying on the amount they were getting.
“Our families are aware of what we were promised (because it is often reported on media) so when we take less than that home, they do not trust us,” she told journalists during an interview in Isiolo town.
Her sentiments were echoed by Mr Peter Ekura who said that since they were fully engaged in the demanding work, they could not engage in other income-generating activities making it difficult to provide for their families.
“We cannot go out and earn income to provide for our families and the county should look into our needs,” Mr Ekura said.
The group urged Governor Mohamed Kuti’s administration to ensure they are paid their dues, which they said had accumulated for several months so that the crucial community services are not disrupted.
“We are not tired of serving our communities but the government should listen to our plea to rid our people of the suffering in the event we withdraw the services,” he stressed.
