The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has called for a peaceful march in response to the doctors’ nationwide strike.
In a letter to Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah has asked police officers to provide security for the Tuesday procession.
The doctors will meet first at Kenyatta National Hospital, then at the Ministry of Health, the Council of Governors, and finally at the National Treasury.
This announcement comes just two days after the Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome, stated that doctors have become a public nuisance by conducting strikes and processions without informing police officers, which he claims is against the law.
“The medics have become a public nuisance, blowing whistles and vuvuzelas during the demonstrations thus causing discomfort to patients in hospitals and general public,” a statement from the IG on Sunday detailed.
The defiant doctors, along with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Katiba Institute (KI), and Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), would later respond to Koome, demanding that he apologise and retract his statement by 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 14.
“In your retraction, you must also apologise for the violent attack by police on Dr. Davji Atellah on 27 February 2024,” read the statement.
