- Their sentiments come moments after the Health CS Susan Nakhumicha said the ministry had in the morning meeting agreed to begin posting interns from April 1.
- In a briefing to the media, Nakhumicha said progress had been made in addressing issues that lie within the ministry.
Image: MAGDALENE SAYA
Doctors have maintained that their strike which started on Thursday last week is still on until all their demands are met.
Speaking moments after holding a meeting with the Ministry of Health, the doctors acknowledged that even though the ministry had shown goodwill and commitment to ensure the issues were resolved they wouldn't call off the strike despite promises by the ministry to solve some of the issues falling within its mandate.
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union secretary general Davji Atellah claimed the union has in the past held meetings with the government but the commitments arrived at had never been implemented.
"We just want to affirm that our strike is on. We had a meeting with the ministry led by the CS. I must appreciate that there is understanding that the issues that we are advocating for are pending," Atellah said.
He said issues such as the posting of interns had lingered on for long, adding that despite previous promises to post the interns nothing has been done to date.
"We know very well that we have had a promise before and the interns were to be posted in February, today we were given a promise that they will be posted in April. I must say that goodwill is earned and is earned from the outcome of previous commitments" Atellah said.
"We have had commitments before with the government in January 2023 but nothing to date has been implemented. As we go on with this strike it is not a strike that we are going to accept promises, it is a strike that we are going to accept commitments and outcomes for the doctors."
Their sentiments come moments after the Health CS Susan Nakhumicha said the ministry had in the morning meeting agreed to begin posting interns from April 1 after receiving a confirmation from the Treasury that funds will be released.
In a briefing to the media, Nakhumicha said progress had been made in addressing issues that lie within the ministry.
However, matters which require multi-stakeholder engagement will be addressed in a meeting which will be held later this week.
KMPDU in their briefing confirmed that they had been invited for a multi-stakeholder meeting by the Ministry of Labour on Tuesday.
On the issue of posting interns which lies within the ministry mandate, it was agreed that the union will take part in the review of the internship policy to ensure it is aligned to Universal Health Coverage and it addresses all the emerging issues that have existed.
The review process is currently ongoing and is chaired by the acting Health DG Patrick Amoth.
The doctors have however claimed there was no agreement on the internship policy.
"We have not been told the problem with the current policy so it is very difficult to have a conversation on a new policy when you do not know what is the problem with the current policy," Atellah said.