Doctors in Mombasa have affirmed that they will not resume their duties until their demands are addressed.
Speaking during the strike in Mombasa on Thursday, Dr. Ghalib Salim, representing the coast branch, reiterated their stance, stating that they will not comply with the order issued by the Council of Governors on Wednesday.
CoG chairperson Anne Waiguru had on Wednesday ordered the doctors to halt the ongoing strike and resume work or face consequences.
"We are not going to back down till our demands are met. We refuse to be threatened, if they want us to get back to work they should heed our demands," Salim said.
Salim said that the resolutions offered by the CoG chair were ineffective according to the CBA agreement.
"We only have one CBA which is legal from 2017 to 2021, therefore they can't tell us to go to different counties to have our CBA signed," Salim said.
He added that the duty to safeguard lives doesn't only lie upon the doctors but also on the governors.
"The governors have also taken an oath to safeguard the lives and the people of this country," Salim said.
Waiguru on Wednesday emphasized the need to obey court orders issued on March 13 and 15 which suspended the strike to facilitate negotiations.
Addressing the press following an extraordinary meeting, the CoG, however, refrained from assuming blanket responsibility on the matter instead urging respective counties to take action.
"We call upon the doctors who are on strike to go back to work... failure to which the respective counties which are their employers will be at liberty to take any appropriate actions," Waiguru asserted.
The Kirinyaga governor called on the doctors to accept the goodwill that has been extended to them by both the national and counties for talks.
She reiterated that negotiations can only be done at the county level.
The strike enters its 15th day today with the doctors demanding the implementation of a raft of promises, including a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017.
Their grievances are delayed posting of interns, fair remuneration of interns, postgraduate training, employment of more doctors and comprehensive health coverage for medics.
Outlining the measures taken to address the issues, Waiguru cited the delayed posting of interns which she noted was a national government issue.
