Over 600 doctors to hold special conference in Nairobi over upcoming strike
Over 600 doctors from different parts of the
country will convene at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on Saturday, November
30, for a Special Delegates Conference (SDC) to deliberate on the upcoming
national strike following unfulfilled promises by the government.
In a notice issued by the Kenya Medical
Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Davji
Atellah, the doctors shall decide whether to down their tools for either 14
days or a maximum of 21 days in protests of the conditions that medical
officers are facing due to delays in salary payments.
The SDC was occasioned by the death of a medical intern, Dr.
Francis Njuki who reportedly died by suicide last week due to
frustrations from his job.
Following the intern's death, the KMPDU SG
demanded the government to fulfill its promises, failure to which he would
issue a strike notice before the end of the year.
Further, he acknowledged that the State had
failed to honour the return-to-work formula at the end of a 56-day strike
earlier in the year.
"We are going to give notice for a
nationwide strike for all the doctors. We have the Special Delegates Conference
(SDC) which then will determine whether we are going for seven or 14 days but
at most 21 days," he said.
The doctors' grievances emanated from a
directive from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) that proposed a reduction of the
interns' stipends from Ksh.206,000 to around Ksh.70,000.
KMPDU, however, opposed the proposal, citing
that it would downgrade the interns' critical role in the healthcare service.
This led to a 56-day strike that
rocked the country's health sector in mid-May 2024.
The doctors, however, returned to work after
signing a deal that would prompt the government to pay salary arrears amounting
to Ksh.3.5 billion over the next five years and improve the doctors' working
conditions.
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