Thursday, April 18, 2024 – Kenyans can breathe a sigh of relief after the Labour Court declared an end to the doctors’ strike that has paralyzed the health sector in the country.
In his ruling yesterday, the Employment and Labour Relations
Court Judge Byrum Ongaya ordered Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and
Dentists Union (KMPDU) doctors to return to work to tend to emergencies.
He ordered KMPDU to ensure doctors of different cadres are in public hospitals to handle emergencies.
The decision ends the doctors'
strike that started on March 13.
The judge was informed that the government and the doctors
had reached a return-to-work formula within 30 days.
Public discontent had been growing, with patients bearing
the brunt of the impasse.
The Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha had told
Members of Parliament that an assessment by the Ministry of Health indicated
that the doctors' strike had left referral hospitals operating and only 33 per
cent capacity among outpatients and a mare 25 per cent among specialist services.
The breakthrough comes as legislators on Wednesday, put
Nakhumicha to task to answer why the government has yet to find a resolution to
the CBA, but the CS insisted at the national level, the government has done its
part, especially to meet the doctor's demands regarding the 2017 Collective
Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The heart of the dispute revolves around a 2017 CBA which
the doctors claim the government has failed to honour.
Despite the government's assertion of financial constraints
preventing them from meeting the doctors' demands, CS Nakhumicha indicated that
discussions for a new CBA are underway.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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