It is now exactly 71 days since Kenyan doctors in public hospitals declared a nationwide strike and the strike seems to be far from over as the in-house fighting in the Ministry of Health goes on.
Being one of the longest doctor’s strike in the history of the country, all efforts to make doctors go back to work seem as though they have hit a dead end with those appointed to spearhead the talks saying that they are being frustrated.
Last week, the Labor Court appointed the Secretary General of COTU, Francis Atwoli in conjunction with Kenya National Human Rights Commission, to steer the negotiations and ensure that the strike was called off at the end of last week, failure to which the union leaders of KMPDU would go to jail.
Seven days later and Mr. Francis Atwoli is crying foul and says that his efforts to end the doctor’s strike are being frustrated majorly by the Ministry of Health.
Atwoli says that there is a disagreement in the Ministry of Health between the Principal Secretary in the ministry Mr. Nicholas Muraguri and the Cabinet Secretary Dr. Cleopa Mailu.
According to Mr. Atwoli, Mr. Muraguri is working hard to make sure that doctors don’t go back to work saying that he seems to be having some personal interests calling on President Uhuru Kenyatta to intervene.
Doctors are now expected back to court on Monday morning where they are likely to start serving their one month sentence after they were found guilty of the contempt of court.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been mute about the ongoing strike after his attempt to intervene failed terribly at the Mombasa statehouse one month ago.
Politicians on the other hand have been busy calling on Kenyans to register as voters with the doctor’s strike being treated as a none-issue.
As the two bulls; doctors’ union KMPDU and the Ministry of Health continue to fight, the grass, the poor Kenyans are being trampled on.