Healthcare practitioners from the South Rift region staged a demonstration in Nakuru town on Tuesday, asserting their resolve to refrain from returning to work until their grievances are addressed.
Led by Dr. Stephen Omondi, the Secretary General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) for the South Rift Region, the protesters voiced their demands for the government to fulfill the terms of the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and assign interns to hospitals.
Expressing the significance of interns in hospital operations, Dr. Omondi emphasized, “These interns are qualified doctors, and they work in our hospitals.
They offer about 30% of the services in our facilities.”
Dr. Omondi criticized the proposed salary adjustments for interns, asserting that the agreed-upon salaries are stipulated in the yet-to-be-implemented CBA.
“If these interns won’t be posted and paid as indicated in the CBA, this strike will go on,” he affirmed.
In addition to addressing the issue of interns, Dr. Omondi highlighted other demands, including the provision of medical cover for doctors.
He urged the government to expedite a resolution to the impasse, citing the plight of patients relying on public hospitals for medical care.
The ongoing strike has resulted in a halt to medical services across public hospitals nationwide for 13 consecutive days.
Negotiations between the Ministry of Health and KMPDU have failed to yield any solutions thus far.