Doctors' strike: Talks collapse again after Govt delegation walks out of meeting

There is no end in sight for the doctors’ strike, after talks meant to resolve the impasse between the striking medics and their employers on Wednesday afternoon broke down.

For the second time in a one week span, talks between the government and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) have hit a snag.

The court-sanctioned mediation talks aimed at arriving on a return-to-work formula collapsed after the government allegedly demanded that doctors call off the strike before the talks proceed.

The doctors on the other hand remained adamant that they would only call off the strike if the government agreed to a return-to-work formula.

"We have had extensive discussions on whether the role of government is instituted. The strike has not been stayed or suspended, disabling the rule of the whole of government approach to proceed to deal with the 19 issues the union raised," Deputy Head of Public Service Josphat Nanok said.

"In that regard we have halted the meeting and asked the union between now and April to suspend the strike and we will proceed to call a meeting to discuss the issue. Failure to do that each of the parties will be reporting back to court."

KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah, on his part, accused the government of coming to the negotiating table with insincere intentions.

The union remains adamant that it will only call off the strike once it has a return-to-work formula. It further demands a commitment from the government on the 19 key grievances that led to the strike.

"In this meeting today, the government has walked out of the meeting. The Health, Labour, Finance and Public Service CSs, alongside the Council of Governors (CoG) Chair, decided to stream out of the engagement saying they don’t care how long the strike lasts," said Dr. Atellah.

"As a union we say we will continue being out until the government resolves the issues that we have. We have the judgement delivered by Justice Mbaru and the CBA. We will wait until we go back to court."

The CoG on Wednesday held an extraordinary meeting regarding the ongoing strike that has paralysed healthcare delivery across the country, and directed striking doctors to obey court orders.

The county bosses also called on the national government to implement the contentious 2017 CBA to unlock the impasse

"We encourage the union to renegotiate new CBAs with the county governments who are their employers. We also call on the government and doctors to exercise sobriety in this matter," CoG Chair and Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru said.  

"We further call on doctors on strike to go back to work pursuant to court orders, failure to which the respective county governments who are their employers will be at liberty to take disciplinary action."

With the doctors strike having gone on for two weeks, the Employment and Labour Relations Court which convenes again on April 3 may be the only viable option left to broker a truce and restore public health services.