Mwaura: Doctors' strike is politically instigated to sabotage SHIF

Addressing the press on Thursday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Mwaura argued that there is no other sensible explanation as to why doctors have downed their tools despite goodwill from the government, including the Ksh.2.4 billion offer to quell the tensions.

"It only leads to one conclusion that they may be a political motive in sabotaging the Social Health Act and the Universal Health Coverage (UHC)...there's no other way you can explain that," he said.

"Maybe there are other forces behind them that just want to sabotage the entire process." 

He further asserted that the government is committed to addressing the contentious issues that motivate the doctors' strike and negotiations have already kickstarted.

"We have already given the Ksh.2.4 billion there is money for postgraduate training, we have agreed to negotiate again the CBA," Mwaura noted. 

"There were 19 issues and they have been classified 6 for national and 9 for counties. Counties are willing to handle their own issues, national government is willing to handle their own issues."

According to Mwaura, the government remains committed to providing quality healthcare to Kenyans and will not provide room for any detractors to forestall the development agenda.

"The Kenyan government in collaboration with the county government is committed to the realisation of UHC and will continue to work together with KMPDU to ensure that all stakeholders promote the highest standards of healthcare."

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), which has over 7,000 members, went on strike on March 15 to demand salary arrears and immediate hiring of trainee doctors.

They however turned down a two billion offer from the government to help solve the standoff, arguing that the offer has not fully honored the the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).