- In October last year, doctors announced that they would go on strike starting January 6
- But the action was waived when the government started engaging them.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
Medical services in public hospitals are set to get messy after doctors announced they will start their strike on Monday, saying talks with the government had collapsed.
KMPDU secretary general Davji Bhimji Atellah told the Star on Sunday that he had told all the intern doctors not to go to work on Monday but instead travel to Nairobi for the union’s meeting at Ufungamano House on Tuesday.
He said the Ufungamano meeting will give a declaration that will accelerate the industrial action “until the doctors get their rights, which is posting and payment”.
“About 1,000 doctors are travelling to be in the meeting on Tuesday. These are interns who run services at the public facilities. So, we are effectively downing tools starting Monday,” he said.
In October last year, doctors announced that they would go on strike starting January 6, if the state failed to implement the agreements in the CBA covering 2017-21.
But the action was waived when the government started engaging them.
A framework of dialogue was agreed on to develop a roadmap of paying the interns whose salaries are now in arrears for 90 days.
Last month, KMPDU again joined other medical workers, including nurses, clinical officers and pharmacists in 12 counties, to issue strike notices.
But in the latest letter to top government officials seen by the Star, Atellah said the meetings and engagements the union has had with relevant government officials have not yielded much as the intern doctors remain unpaid and not posted.
“Our position is that the conciliations have completely failed to yield any results thus far, it is therefore untenable and a waste of resource,” the letter reads.
“Unless a case is presented for our continued participation in the process, we shall consider the dispute unresolved under section 69 and move that our industrial action be sanctioned by the court order in Nairobi ELRC 6464 of 2020,” it adds.
When he spoke to the Star, the KMPDU boss said that unless a firm commitment is presented to him by the government on when the delayed salaries will be released to medics, the strike remains on.
Besides remuneration and employment, he said, they are also agitating against poor working conditions and lack of proper tooling to serve patients.
“The public hospitals are a shell. The shelves you see have no drugs and are just mounted for a show. Our members are overworked, are poorly resourced and put their lives at risk all the time. Interns are the ones running those facilities. This must stop,” he explained.
A message the secretary general sent to his members shows that at least 46 public hospitals will be rendered non-functional with the medics there committing to the strike.
"We have communicated to the Ministry of Health our concerns and demanded urgent action through different mechanisms but we are yet to receive any noteworthy response," the message reads.
"As a union, we insist that every work done must be paid for after every 30 days. The ministry is 90 days late. Also the CBA is very clear on when interns should be posted after oathing, and the same has been delayed."
Asked about the numbers, Atellah said some hospitals that will remain shut starting Monday are more than 46 so far.
"In a country of 4,000 doctors, if more than 1,000 are coming to Nairobi on Monday and technically on strike, the effect will be monumental. We will only engage when I have a date of payment and of their posting," he said.
Health CS Susan Nakhumicha was not available to respond to the stance of the union as multiple calls to her and a text message went unanswered.