Turkana doctors defy court order to protest, present petition

Doctors in Turkana County on Friday protested over various issues affecting their service delivery.

Despite the court order suspending the national strike, doctors marched from Lodwar town to the office of the Public Service Board and Ministry of Health to present their petition.

Fatuma Rajab, the Turkana County KMPDU Liaison Officer said they are in solidarity with the national team on the doctors' strike.

“Doctors who provide the services themselves cannot even afford the medical insurance that they were put on. They are told that in case they want medical attention, they go to LCRH. They can't go to any other facility around the county,” she said.

She said they have some issues that they wanted to raise with both the Public Service Board and the Ministry of Health about the doctors who are contracted.

“Now it's almost over a year, they are still not being absorbed into the county while in other cadres they have already been absorbed,” Rajab said.

“We had 11 doctors who had gone to do their studies, some were off-duty and their salaries were stopped without any reason. We have human resource steps that have to be followed before you stop someone's salary.” 

They also raised the issue of promotion, saying :

“It's now past four years, doctors have not been promoted. Our consultants, after they finish school, some are still in Job Group M,” she said.

She said they have a critical issue at the sub-county level where only one doctor is covering an entire sub-county, handling medical, surgical, and emergency cases alone.

She asked the government to address healthcare deficiencies and engage in discussions with them saying if that is not done, they will have no choice but to go on a complete shutdown.

“We are giving the government 21 days to engage with us and find solutions for the issues faced in Turkana County,” she said.

Chief Officer for Medical Services Gilchrist Lokoel who addressed the press at his office said they have received their memoranda and petition.

“I realized that most of the issues raised have been addressed. The issues of promotions, the county government has taken it seriously. Most of the doctors in Turkana, and by extension, healthcare workers in Turkana, have benefited from timely promotions. Promotion is a process. It's not an end event,” he said.

Lokoel called those who have not been able to be promoted that there are files within the public service department for further discussion, verification, and finally for the request for promotions to be considered.

“As a county government, we know that promotion and designation are very critical aspects of human resource development," he said.

“I think close to a year ago,  we employed 10 doctors. We employed close to four to five consultants to increase the speciality and the healthcare reach to our people.” 

Lokoel has called upon KMPDU leadership also to consider putting patient interest first because they are open as a county government for dialogue and to come up with an amicable solution to these issues.