CS Nakhumicha Bows to Pressure from Doctors
Physicians can now cease their ongoing strike following an announcement from the Ministry of Health on Monday, March 18th.
In a press conference, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha disclosed that the Ministry was actively working on deploying interns, addressing one of the key issues highlighted by doctors before the commencement of the strike last Thursday.
Nakhumicha disclosed that the deployment of more than a thousand interns is set to commence on April 1st, following the disbursement of the necessary funds by the National Treasury.
“As a Ministry, we have made progress, one of the issues was on the internship program we have agreed that they are going to participate in the review of the internship policy which is currently ongoing. We are going to review the policy and ensure that is in line with the Universal Health Coverage,” she stated.
The CS additionally mentioned ongoing conciliation meetings aimed at addressing some of the concerns raised by the medical professionals.
Furthermore, the Chief Secretary disclosed that the Ministry would proceed with discussions regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which had expired. These negotiations are expected to take place within the upcoming week.
“We have also discussed and agreed on the arrears pending for the registrar that the Medical Services Principal Secretary is going to take the lead and have a discussion with universities so that a reconciliation is done,” she added.
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She stressed that the National Treasury had allocated the necessary funds, enabling interns to be assigned to different hospitals and ensuring all outstanding payments were settled.
Notwithstanding this announcement, Davji Atellah, the Secretary General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU), reiterated that the strike would continue.
Atellah criticized the Ministry’s new policy, contending that there were no flaws in the previous one that warranted the implementation of a new policy.
“We have not even seen any draft of the new policy. We therefore believe that the interns should be posted on the existing policy,” he added.
He expressed his belief that the government was seeking methods to reduce the pay and benefits of doctors and medical interns. He stressed that the strike aimed to safeguard the interests of the medical community.
Earlier this month, Nakhumicha accused the ministry led by Njuguna Ndung’u of neglecting to allocate the required Ksh4.9 billion for deploying the doctors.
On March 7, CS Nakhumicha stated that the request put forth by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) was not feasible.
“I agree with the union that this is not just like any other internship because the interns are in the frontline and must be compensated but in a sustainable manner,” she added.
CS Nakhumicha Bows to Pressure from Doctors
