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State agrees to meet doctors in potential breakthrough amid ongoing strike

Health CS Susan Nakhumicha when she appeared before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Health on Feb 15, 2024. (Photo: MOH)

By Bashir Mohammed | Thursday, April 18, 2024

The meeting on Thursday offers a glimmer of hope for a resolution to the strike, which has left many patients without access to medical care.

In a surprising turn of events, the government has agreed to meet with union officials from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Thursday afternoon, signalling a potential breakthrough in the ongoing doctors' strike.

The meeting will take place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) as part of the Whole-of-the-Nation Approach Committee, according to a letter from Felix Koskei, the government's chief of staff and head of the civil service, to Dr Davji Atellah, the secretary-general of KMPDU.

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“We hope that the government is committed to resolving the issues in our strike notice,” Dr Atellah told The Eastleigh Voice.

The Labour and Industrial Relations Court ordered the union to handle all hospital emergencies, regardless of whether the strike continues. The court also directed the union and the government to work out a formula for a return to work within the next 30 days.

However, President Ruto has maintained that the government has no money to pay doctors, citing economic hardship and fiscal constraints. He criticised the doctors for making "unreasonable demands" and urged them to be "patriotic servants and hardworking professionals."

"We can hardly pay because we say there are real problems but there are leaders like the governors who say they support the doctors' strike; if you support them, then pay them. We need to stop chasing what is popular; we need to chase what is right," said President Ruto.

Siaya Governor James Orengo disagreed with the president's stance, saying, "I don't think this should be the case. What the doctors are asking for is not outlandish. They are not things that can make us talk at each other instead of talking with each other."

The meeting on Thursday offers a glimmer of hope for a resolution to the strike, which has left many patients without access to medical care.