- KMPDU Secretary General, Davji Atellah said officials opted for the looming national strike.
- He added that doctors were frustrated by the high inflation rate which was happening despite the non-implementation of necessary components of their CBA.
Image: LOISE MACHARIA
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacist and Dentist Union (KMPDU) has issued doctors’ strike notices for six counties.
The union Secretary General, Davji Atellah said there were six counties where doctors were tired because the counties had deliberately refused to implement their rights.
He said medics in Vihiga County started their strike last week because they were frustrated and unable to offer services.
Speaking in Elementaita in Gilgil Sub-County after a KMPDU National Advisory Council that brought together senior officials from all branches, Atellah added that doctors in the Vihiga have not been promoted in a long time.
He said the officials deliberated on many issues affecting members and the entire health care delivery in the country and made pertinent resolutions with the first one being on the looming national strike.
“Doctors in Vihiga have been on strike since last week and their strike will continue until their demands are implemented,” he said.
He said the trike notice for Kajiado County was on with the strike set to commence next week on December 7.
“The strike will also be relentless until their demands are addressed,” he said.
Atellah said there was a 14-day strike notice for the County Government of Kilifi adding that the medics are set to start their labour action on December 18 if the issues demanded are not sorted out by that date.
He said Nakuru County which has had prolonged engagements with KMPDU members is on the list of counties where doctors plan to down their tools this month.
“Nakuru County Government seems to be into ego play than resolving the issues that doctors are presenting, while the County Public Service Board is not interested in ensuring that medical services are offered” he said.
He said the medics will go on strike between December 17 and 20 after a court case pitting them and Nakuru County is mentioned on December 13.
“We also have the County government of Embu where doctors are going on strike towards the end of December because of non-responsiveness of the county despite the demands by doctors,” said Atellah.
He added that the medics in Embu were not being supported, capacitated and provided with the required tools.
He said the aforementioned regions were going on strike because the county governments had refused to honour Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) and capacitate their members to offer services.
The other county whose issues were not given in detail was Busia County where members plan to down tools within this month.
“The officials have discussed in detail the daylight robbery that the government has started on members’ salaries such as the housing levy which is unconstitutional,” he said.
"As the KMPDU National Advisory Council, we are demanding that the county and the national governments urgently refund the deductions that had already been done,” he said.
On the Social Health Insurance Act, Atellah said the new plan was going to deny all doctors health care services.
“This means that doctors will be offering health care services which they cannot afford because the enhanced cover component that they were enjoying has been removed,” he lamented.
He claimed that enhanced cover for medics had been removed deliberately by private profiteers
“We may discuss and negotiate on any issue but we will not do so if we cannot access the health care that we offer as doctors,” he said.
Atellah told the Ministry of Health to seriously look into the matter and ensure that the enhanced cover for medics under the civil servant that was being offered by the National Health Insurance Fund is part of the new outfit failure to which, they will not offer services.
He added that the government owed doctors billions of shillings based on the CBA of 2017-202.
“As we deliberate with the Ministry, we were supposed to begin strike from December but the KMPDU-NAC has taken into consideration that the national and county governments must fast-track payment of their arrears,” said Atellah.
“Payment of the arrears must be expedited otherwise doctors may invoke article 41 of the Constitution,” he said
He added that doctors were frustrated by the high inflation rate which was happening despite the non-implementation of necessary components of their CBA.
He also blamed the high cost of living on the increased taxes and levies yet their salaries remained the same.
“Many of the doctors are unable to even pay their loans because the deductions have reduced their salaries beyond where it was before,” he said
Atellah said KMPDU is unanimously demanding a 40 per cent salary increase to enable members to overcome the high cost of living.
He said the last time medics got a salary increment was in 2017 and was optimistic that the ongoing negotiations with the government would bear fruits.