Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura has hit back at doctors for rejecting the offer extended to them.
Speaking during a press briefing at KICC on Thursday, Mwaura said there was no reason for the doctors to reject the offer, adding that the two levels of government had agreed to handle the various issues which fall within their mandate.
Mwaura termed the strike as being politically instigated to sabotage the government's plan to shift to the Social Health Authority and attainment of UHC.
"There may be a political motive in sabotaging the Social Health Act and UHC, there is no way you can explain it because if you have already been given Sh2.4 billion, there is money for postgraduate training, we have agreed to negotiate the CBA again, then what is on the table?" Mwaura said.
He said the negotiations have been led by the Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.
According to Mwaura, the issues raised by the doctors have since been under either the national government or the counties with the two committing to handle the issues.
"It baffles us, when you said go collect your letters then people are saying don’t do so basically then you are playing politics and maybe there are other forces behind them that just want to sabotage the whole process," Mwaura said.
"Let's say the truth because they working in public and also have private clinics now they are diverting the traffic to private clinics, the more the crisis persists the better."
However, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union SG Davji Atellah called on the government to sort out the issues the medics had raised without fail.
He said issues raised such as the implementation of the 2017-21 CBA owed to doctors and payment of interns are issues that cannot be politicised.
"How does the reduction of salaries of an intern by 91 per cent be politically instigated? How does non-implementation of CBA that is owed to doctors for over seven years be politically instigated?" Atellah paused.
"They (the government) need to sort out the issues," Atellah said.
The union on Thursday instructed the medical interns not to collect their posting letters from the Ministry of Health as had been directed by the government.
Koskei in a statement on Monday said the government had secured Sh2.4 billion to facilitate the immediate deployment and posting of the 2023-24 cohort of medical student interns.
Koskei said the deployment of intern doctors will begin on Thursday and called on the union to suspend their strike amid ongoing mediation to resolve the remaining issues.
But Atellah on Thursday said medical interns will not collect the letters adding that doctors must be respected.
