The Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners’ Union (KEHPHPU) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Nairobi City County government to rectify irregular deployments and mismanagement within its food hygiene and medical certification services. In a press statement signed by National Secretary General and CEO Brown Ashira, the union warned that the deployment of unauthorized personnel to regulatory public health dockets and the illegal outsourcing of food handler testing pose an immediate health threat to millions of city residents.
The union specifically flagged the deployment of Ms. Ann Sakwa, a medical laboratory technologist, as the Officer in Charge of the Public Health Food Handling and Medical Examination docket. KEHPHPU notes that this assignment violates the Public Health Officer Training and Registration Act (Cap 253G), which restricts public health functions to registered and authorized professionals. According to the union, leaving this regulatory mandate in the hands of unqualified personnel has severely compromised oversight and increased the risk of foodborne illnesses like cholera and dysentery.
Furthermore, KEHPHPU expressed alarm over the rise of fraudulent certificates and the loss of county revenue due to the illegal outsourcing of food handler testing to private entities. To fix this, the union demands the immediate removal of all unauthorized personnel, a complete halt to private laboratory testing, and the formation of an audit taskforce within seven days to review all certificates issued under the current arrangement. They also want technical food hygiene licenses unlinked from the Unified Business Permit to ensure businesses strictly meet health standards.
KEHPHPU has given the county government exactly seven days to meet these demands and comply with the Public Health Act (Cap 242) and the Food, Drugs, and Chemical Substances Act (Cap 254). The union stated that while it remains open to constructive engagement, it will not hesitate to launch appropriate legal and industrial action if the county fails to act within the stipulated timeline to protect public health.
About the Author
