Doctors working in Kenyan state hospitals went on strike yesterday to demand fulfilment of a 2013 agreement between their union and the government that would raise their pay and improve working conditions, a senior union official said.
Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union (KMPDU) who had marched to the health ministry headquarters in the capital, Reuters witnesses said.
The medics, wearing white gowns and surgical caps, then marched on to the finance ministry headquarters.
Comprising about 5,000 members, the union says the bargaining agreement was to give them a 300% pay rise, review of their working conditions and job structures and criteria for promotions, and address under-staffing of medical professionals in state hospitals.
Samuel Oroko, the union’s national chairman, said they had given the government enough time to honour the deal.
“We must be listened to ... we have had lots and lots of diplomacy, and lots and lots of dialogue. Dialogue has to come to an end,” he said to cheers of doctors present at a news conference before the march.
“And the action is that doctors in Kenya will remain in strike until the CBA (agreement) is implemented,” he said. “No amount of intimidation, no amount of propaganda will make us change our determination.”
There was no immediate comment from officials at the ministry of health, but Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu said on Sunday that the strike would be unfortunate, given an October 6 court ruling that had handed both parties 90 days to negotiate over the collective bargaining agreement.
“We hope reason will prevail. Strikes are called as a last resort. In this case it is unfortunate,” he said.
The KMPDU said the strike would affect all public hospitals: those run by the national government and by regional governments – known as counties, and will involve all doctors regardless of their specialisations.
Meanwhile, more than 100 patients escaped from Kenya’s only psychiatric hospital during the strike action by doctors and nurses.
Nairobi Police Commander Japheth Koome told AFP that police had launched an operation to return the patients to the hospital, as videos on social media showed them climbing over the hospital walls and running down a nearby highway in the capital.
“We have already arrested dozens of the ... patients who had escaped in an ongoing operation,” Koome said. “The doctors messed (up) by leaving the patients unattended.”
Kenyan medical staff march in Nairobi during a strike to demand fulfilment of a 2013 agreement between their union and the government.
