Machakos Clarifies Cleaner Pay Row, Says Workers Were Hired by Contractor

By Andrew Mbuva 

The County Government of Machakos has moved to clarify reports alleging that a section of staff working as cleaners had gone for months without pay. 

According to the county, the affected individuals were not county employees but casual workers hired by a private contractor engaged by the government. 

Speaking on Tuesday, County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health, Dr. Justus Kasivu, said the workers stationed at Machakos Level 5 Hospital were under the management of the contractor and not on the county’s payroll. 

“We wish to clarify that the county government does not have any pending salary obligations for its payroll staff. We empathize with the citizens whose wages have been delayed by the contractor and I want to confirm that it is the responsibility of the contractor to pay their officers,” said Dr. Kasivu. 

He added that the county had already fulfilled its financial obligations to the contractor and that investigations were underway to determine why the casual workers had not been paid. 

The clarification follows media reports suggesting that hospital cleaners had gone for months without salaries — a matter that also drew the attention of the Senate Committee on Health during their recent tour of Machakos health facilities. 

While commending Governor Wavinya Ndeti for implementing transformative reforms in the health sector, the lawmakers raised concerns about the delayed payments to the contracted cleaners. 

Dr. Kasivu further appealed to Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu to help lobby the National Treasury to release funds owed to the county through the Social Health Authority (SHA) 

“I urge Senator Kavindu to help push the national government to release money to our facilities to enable us to serve the people of Machakos. We have a pending bill of SHA claims of about KSh 750 million, and if settled, it will go a long way in improving our services,” he said. 

The county government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability, and timely service delivery across all its health institutions.