- Wandayi called on Speaker Moses Wetangula to consider recalling the House to deliberate on the need to approve a second supplementary budget for the Ministry of Health.
- The Minority Leader noted that despite several efforts by the ministry to address the strike, more needs to be done to restore services in the sector.
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National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi has called on the government to embrace dialogue and legislation to deal with the ongoing doctor’s strike which has entered its third week.
Wandayi called on Speaker Moses Wetangula to consider recalling the House to deliberate on the need to approve a second supplementary budget for the Ministry of Health.
“The issue of doctor’s strike is so serious that it can not be washed away and drastic action needs to be taken. If it's a question of budget, let us summon parliament next week, bring a second supplementary budget and factor in money to post interns and promote doctors,” Wandayi said.
Wandayi spoke when he attended the homecoming and thanksgiving ceremony for Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera at Mbagara village, Mautuma ward.
The Minority Leader noted that despite several efforts by the ministry to address the strike, more needs to be done to restore services in the sector.
“The time has come for President William Ruto to come in and assist. First is by having negotiations with doctors and second by taking to Kenya Kwanza MPs to pass a budget in parliament and provide money for these doctors,” he said.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) and the Kenya Medical Association (KMA) have joined the strike with different demands. doctors.
KUCO is demanding comprehensive medical cover for their members, ratification of career progression guidelines, payment of interns as per their job groups and promotion and re-designation.
KMA wants the immediate suspension of an Electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS), which will allow the Kenya Revenue Authority to force doctors to disclose patients’ data.
On his part, ODM Deputy Party Leader Wycliffe Oparanya faulted what he termed as a reluctance in the way the government is dealing with the crisis in the health sector.
“A doctor’s strike cannot be solved in ceremonies and funerals and am surprised you (Health CS Susan Nakhumicha) have sat here the whole time. You should be somewhere meeting their representatives to solve the crisis,” Oparanya said.
He urged CS Nakhumicah to embrace dialogue with the doctors and noted that if the issue is not taken seriously, then the strike could last longer.
“These are people who have an opportunity to ignore government hospitals and go to a private hospital in the evening and they make their own money so they can sustain that strike for as long as they want,” he added.
CS Nakhumicha noted that most of the demands raised by the doctors are historical policies that were implemented by the former government.
“There is a problem because the CBA was signed in 2017, where was I in 2017? But I will rectify the mistakes and this government is committed to solving the crisis in our healthcare sector,” Nakhumicha said.
The most recent agreement, signed by the Ministry of Health in July 2023, stipulated a 90-day negotiation and conclusion period for the CBA, a commitment that the unionists said has been disregarded by the government.
A court order was issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in 2019 ordering parties to resume negotiations to record consent but COG did not adhere.
KMPDU accused the government of failing to implement the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement by failing to post interns 30 days after their graduation, doctors remaining in the same job group and many others.