CS Nakhumicha Threatens To Move To Court If Doctors Fail To Suspend Strike

By
John Mutiso
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Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha says the ministry will go to court if the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) does not end the doctors’ strike, which entered its 41st day on Tuesday.

Since March 14, doctors have abandoned their duty stations in protest of the government’s failure to post medical interns and comply with a 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on doctors’ working conditions.

Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Nakhumicha described her ministry’s progress in luring doctors back to work, saying they have begun a review of the internship policy to align it with the influx of interns.

She stated that the health ministry has Ksh.3.5 billion in salary arrears accrued between 2017 and 2024 June, which will be paid in five instalments.

Nakhumicha stated that they received Ksh.2.4 billion for the payment of medical interns at a monthly rate of Ksh.70,000, which KMPDU has since rejected, demanding the Ksh.206,000 set by the CBA.

She insisted that the offer was still valid until the end of the fiscal year 2023/2024 in June, when review negotiations could take place.

 “This offer shall have to be renegotiated after June 2024,” said the minister.
Further, Nakhumicha said the health ministry has received Ksh.200 million for the payment of postgraduate arrears for doctors who have done specialty training.
“Follow-up to the doctors’ refusal to call off the strike, we have instructed our council to immediately move to court and file the status report as to what we had agreed to as a return-to-work formula,” the CS said.
“We will be asking our council to appeal to the court to review the orders that had been issued initially so that we are allowed to take necessary action to ensure Kenyans continue to enjoy healthcare services.”
Doctors were expected to speak out on the strike on Tuesday after negotiations with the government concluded through the Whole of Nation Approach Committee convened by Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.

Koskei said the government agreed to postpone the signing of a return-to-work agreement to Tuesday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where KMPDU officials failed to show up on Monday.

He stated that the government allowed medics time to finish their discussions after Monday’s meeting, which lasted until late evening.

Last Wednesday, the Employment and Labour Relations Court extended orders suspending the protracted doctors’ strike in order to allow for further negotiations. 

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