Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has offered to lead a delegation of medical professionals to the State House for a “brainstorming” session with the government aimed at ending the impasse on the doctors’ strike.
The strike entered its 26th day on Monday with no signs in sight that the stalemate will end soon.
“The unfolding doctors’ strike is a humongous health crisis that cannot be wished away,” Khalwale said in a statement on X.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has since rejected the government’s Sh2.4 billion to facilitate the immediate deployment and posting of the 2023/24 cohort of medical interns.
Delayed posting of the intern medics is among the grievances that drove the union into calling for the strike on March 14, 2024.
KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah on Sunday said they will not backtrack on their demands for salaries, allowances, and comprehensive medical cover agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed in 2017.
His stance was in response to President William Ruto’s calls that the medics accept the government’s offer and return to work saying “we cannot continue to spend the money we don’t have”.
“Despite government pressure, doctors’ salaries anchored on CBA are non-negotiable. We won’t compromise on fair compensation for our hard work. It’s unjust to target us for wage bill control while state officers enjoy hefty paychecks,” Atellah said.
The government has offered to pay the 1,500 medical interns a Sh70,000 monthly stipend for one year after which they would be employed.
On Monday, Khalwale expressed optimism that a solution to the stalemate would be found if the State House accepts his offer and allows his team of preferred ‘mediators’ to brainstorm.
His preferred team of problem-solvers includes Seme MP James Nyikal and his Endebess counterpart Robert Purkose.
“Dr James Nyikal is not only a former director of Medical Services but is also one of the most brilliant medical minds in Kenya. In fact, he was my lecturer at the University of Nairobi,” Khalwale said.
“On the other hand, Dr Robert Purkose is a former medical superintendent. I’m a former Medical Officer of Health and the Senate Majority Whip. I’m persuaded that if State House invites us for a brainstorming session accompanied by Dr Patrick Amoth, the Director General of Health, our combined medico-political experience will, in absolute good faith, inform the way forward,” he added.
In 2017, doctors held a 100-day strike, the longest ever held in the country, to demand better wages and for the government to restore the country’s dilapidated public health facilities.
Non-implementation of the CBA that was signed to end the strike is the genesis of the current strike.
