Not going down without a fight as striking doctors sue IG KOOME for ‘suspending’ the Constitution and threatening to deal with them ruthlessly

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 – Doctors have vowed to teach Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome a lesson he will never forget after threatening them.

Speaking yesterday, Davji Atellah, the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General, announced that the union has sued Koome after he ordered police to deal ruthlessly with the striking doctors.

Atellah emphasised that no threats, victimization, or intimidation would make the doctors call off their strike.

He stated that the union and the government should meet to come up with a working agreement.

"As KMPDU and other societies, we have already proceeded to court against the defamatory statement that was released yesterday. As a union we will serve the IG," he stated.

The medic remarked that the IG cannot contravene the Constitution and issue threats rather than offer an amicable solution.

Atellah reiterated that KMPDU and other unions were ready to meet with the stakeholders to come up with a solution and end the strike which has left hospitals unattended and patients lacking critical care.

Additionally, Atellah noted that it was counterproductive to bring in foreign doctors who end up failing the set test.

He urged the government to stop putting the lives of patients at risk by failing to meet their demands.

Atellah reiterated that negotiations were the only way to end the ongoing strike.

IG Koome lamented that the striking doctors were becoming a nuisance by blowing whistles and vuvuzelas in the streets.

He also complained that those doctors lying on roads and pavements were disrupting traffic. Koome therefore called upon all Police Commanders to deal with this disturbance firmly across the nation.

The Kenyan DAILY POST