By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The famous Nixon Memorial Methodist Hospital in Segbgwema, eastern Sierra Leone has remained shut down for a month now amid a long-running indefinite workers’ strike, leaving hundreds of residents in the Njaluahun Chiefdom and its environs without healthcare.
The action of the aggrieved staff, who downed their tools on 3 October, has also led to the shutting down of the Nursing School which is run by the hospital. Some of the staff of the hospital double as lecturers at the school.
They say they have taken the decision to go on strike because they have not been paid their salaries for the last three months and call on the Government of Sierra Leone to take over the running of the hospital amidst concern over the managerial ability of the current administration..
Nixon Memorial Hospital is owned by the United Methodist Church (UMC) mission in Sierra Leone. Politico couldn’t reach members of the Church for an exlanation..
Lansana Nathanael Momoh, a clinician at the hospital, told Politico the only reason they could consider going back to work was if the government took over the management of the hospital.
Momoh said that for about three to four months "we have not received our salaries and we have approached the Medical Superintendent about our welfare, but nothing has been said about it.”
He went on: “We will only go back to work if government takes over the management and conditions of service for the workers, otherwise we are not prepared to work.”
“Since the strike started on the 3rd October, patients are not admitted to the hospital because it is not functioning up to date and the Methodist Mission don’t want government to take over the hospital. That mission is for now incapable to manage the hospital,” Momoh said.
Momoh, an instrumental figure in leading this latest action against the management, has since been suspended indefinitely.
Other staff who spoke to Politico said their grievances were not limited to payment. They said they has also been underpaid and were unsure if the management was contributing to their retirement package with the National Social Security and Insurance Trust.
The head of the hospital, Medical Superintendent Dr. Tamba Missa, told Politico they could only pay the staff with what the UMC mission gave them.
“We pay salary as management in consonance with the mission because the hospital is under the control of the Methodist Mission. But we pay salaries based on what we generate, which is called user fees,” said Dr Missa.
He would not comment about calls for the government to take over the hospital. He said that should be a decision of the mission and not the hospital management.
"I cannot refuse any decisions taken by the Methodist Mission, whatever decision decided by the mission I stand to support and abide by," he said.
He added: "I will support the decision by the mission. Nobody is denying for government to take over the hospital, but it is left with the mission. I am not against it but the entire process is in the hands of the administrative wing of the church.”
Kanneh Junisa Saidu, President of Nixon Students’ Union, said: “since the suspension of Mr. Lansana [Momoh] nobody is there to teach us, and we have few months more to take our states final examination. We are worried about it.”
The suspended apparent leader of the strike Momoh also served as a lecturer in the nursing school. He said the school had just three lecturers to teach 143 students. Momoh’s suspension has made the situation of the students at the school worse.
Nixon Hospital has been an integral part of the Kailahun District community for over 30 years and its challenges seem to go beyond dealing with staff. The Paramount Chief, Sheriff Coker Jajua of the Njaluahun Chiefdom where the hospital is located, told Politico that the mission had not been paying lease. As a result, he said, “we are asking them to handover our land back to us, so that we can decide what next to do as a chiefdom.”
© 2019 Politico Online
