The Council of Governors (CoG) has ordered striking doctors to obey court orders and resume work or face dismissal.
The Governors, who convened an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, also urged the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with individual county governments.
According to CoG Chair Anne Waiguru, counties are the employers of medics since health is a devolved function, and thus are best suited to address their concerns.
“We encourage the union to negotiate the new CBAs with individual county governments who are their employers. This cannot be negotiated from the national level because health is a devolved function. We urge the county governments and the doctors to exercise sobriety as parties resolve these matters amicably,” said Waiguru.
“We also call upon the doctors who are on strike to go back to work pursuant to the court orders issued on March 13, 2024 and March 15, 2024, failure to which the respective county governments who are their employers will be at liberty to take any appropriate disciplinary action.”
KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah, on the other hand, remained firm, claiming that the government has consistently ignored court orders to pay doctors their dues, and that they will not be threatened with resumption of duty.
Dr. Atellah also urged national and county governments. He also urged the Ministry of Health to enter the talks with goodwill, failing which he warned that the go-slow would continue.
“In every county in the country we’re owed money, and that is a debt that was to be paid just the way we pay the Eurobond and the way counties pay their debts…it’s a pending bill that ought to be cleared. This is a CBA that was signed and deposited in court…it’s a court order…they have not complied with that court order,” said Dr. Atellah.
“We went to court and got a judgement that went against all the 47 counties and the Ministry of Health to demand for that payment, they have not complied. So you cannot go to the table of negotiation with dirty hands, you have to clean your hands before you engage us and tell us to comply to a court order.”
