'You have 12 hours or else...' Sakaja threatens to fire Nairobi doctors on strike

Addressing the press on Wednesday evening, Governor Sakaja gave doctors in Nairobi 12 hours to return to work, insisting that he would not allow the lives of patients to remain at stake over issues he says can be resolved progressively.

The Nairobi Governor went on to state that issues on the national government’s failure to post medical interns and non-adherence to doctors’ 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are not directly related to the county's jurisdiction hence the Nairobi County-employed doctors should resume duty.

“I have given the doctors of Nairobi 12 hours to show up in our hospitals. Those who want to continue working in the county of Nairobi you have 12 hours to show up in our hospitals because the mandate that I have is to ensure that I provide healthcare to the people of Nairobi,” said Sakaja

The Governor urged the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Nairobi branch to find alternative means of expressing solidarity with the national branch's concerns without compromising patient care in Nairobi.

 “I want to implore upon our KMPDU, Nairobi branch that there are different ways to show solidarity with the national branch that has issues with the national government without jeopardising or putting in line the lives of Nairobi, whose government you have no issues worth going to strike on,” he said.

The Governor noted that doctors who will not have reported to work by Thursday morning will be deemed to be not interested in working with Nairobi County, adding that his administration will exercise its constitutional mandate to fill those positions.

He stressed that while he respects the right of doctors to express their grievances, striking over issues with a different employer isn't justifiable when it jeopardizes the healthcare of Nairobi's residents.

“When you look at the main issues, they are not caused by Nairobi and are not the main issues. If my brother from Citizen TV has a problem, you don’t have a strike in Nation if the strike is at Citizen TV. We have allowed our doctors to hold a meeting early morning but as their employer, I have implored upon them that you cannot be on strike for issues of another employer,” he said.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and the government have so far held two meetings to unlock the current deadlock, but none has yielded the desired results.

Both parties will meet at the negotiation table again on Thursday for a meeting convened by the Head of Public Service and enforced by the courts.