Kenyan Doctors’ Nationwide Strike Clocks One Week

Doctors at Kenya’s public hospitals have entered the seventh day of a nationwide strike, accusing the government of failing to fulfill a handful of promises made in a collective bargaining deal struck in 2017 following a 100-day strike that resulted in people dying from a lack of care.

Kenyan doctors stopped providing emergency services and have been absent from hospitals since last Thursday due to low pay and working conditions. Leaders of the union say 4,000 doctors are taking part in the strike despite a court ruling calling for discussions between the doctors and the Health Ministry.

Doctors union leaders say they would disregard the court order the same way the government had disregarded three court orders to increase basic pay for doctors and reinstate suspended doctors.

Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union Secretary-General, Dr. Davji Bhimji said the doctors went on strike and stopped providing bare minimum services to demand comprehensive medical cover for the doctors and because the government had shown no efforts to resolve the labor dispute.

“In the morning, we managed to close the emergency services that were being offered at the Kenyatta national referral hospital,” he told journalists.

The strike, no doubt has affected patients across the country, leaving many unattended or turned away from hospitals across the Nation.

Melissa Enoch