- From the meetings they have had so far, Atellah said they have been given two conditions.
- He said that they had been told it was difficult to make engagements while the interns were still protesting.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union has said it has held meetings with the Ministry of Health but it has bore no fruits. https://shorturl.at/PWThI
Image: DENIS GATUMA
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union has said it has held meetings with the Ministry of Health but it has bore no fruits.
Speaking on Tuesday, KMPDU secretary general Davji Atellah said that the medical intern doctors and Kenyans waiting for treatment are frustrated and disappointed.
He said that after they agreed to sign the return-to-work mechanism, there was a good working mechanism that would see the doctors posted.
"We have been having a lot of meetings, last week Tuesday where for the first time we had a breakthrough on the issue of implementing CBA," he said.
Atellah said that they could not agree to post several interns and leave the rest as the process is tiring and exhausting.
"Throughout the week and over the weekend we had to crack figures and numbers with the union leaders together with intern representatives to see how to comply with the return-to-work formula that was signed on May 8, 2024, and that point the number of doctors that could be posted was 552 but then there were no any criteria that could work," he added.
"We were not for the opinion to sort the issue of part of the doctors and then come back here 30 days later to start the same."
From the meetings they have had so far, Atellah said they have been given two conditions.
He said that they had been told it was difficult to make engagements while the interns were still protesting.
"We are where we were yesterday because we don't know the progress today and partly from the engagement I was having is that it is impossible to have progress on this engagement if we are both demonstrating and sitting, this is one of the reasons we are being given," he added.
He said that the union leadership will strategise how to move on further to get the solution.
"Our disillusionment is not the solution, we must know and desire to take the next possible action to solve this matter. We are retreating to sit with the National Advisory Council leadership to discuss the mechanisms we can implore to resolve this matter once and for all," Atellah said.
On Tuesday, medical, dental, and pharmacy interns continued with their protests at the Ministry of Health refusing to back down until their demands are met.
Gathering at the MoH headquarters for the second day, the interns expressed frustration over years of waiting for their official postings after the completion of their studies.
They stressed their right to be posted within 30 days of completing their studies, as outlined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union.
They vowed not to relent until their demands were met.