Doctors finally have a reason to call off the ongoing strike after an announcement made by the Ministry of Health on Monday, March 18.
During a press briefing, Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha announced that the Ministry was in the process of posting interns, which was one of the concerns raised by doctors before the strike began on Thursday last week.
Nakhumicha revealed that the posting of over a thousand interns will begin on April 1 after the National Treasury disburses the required funds.
"As a Ministry, we have made progress, one of the issues was on the internship program we have agreed that they are going to participate in the review of the internship policy which is currently ongoing. We are going to review the policy and ensure that is in line with the Universal Health Coverage," she stated.
The CS further noted that there were conciliation meetings which were ongoing to meet some of the demands raised by the medics.
Additionally, the CS revealed that the Ministry would also continue with negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which had lapsed. This would be done within the week.
"We have also discussed and agreed on the arrears pending for the registrar that the Medical Services Principal Secretary is going to take the lead and have a discussion with universities so that a reconciliation is done," she added.
She emphasised that the National Treasury had disbursed the required funds which will see interns posted to various hospitals and all pending arrears cleared.
Despite, this announcement, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Davji Atellah emphasised that the strike was still on.
Atellah poked holes at the new policy fronted by the Ministry arguing that the previous one did not have any flaws to necessitate the introduction of a new policy.
"We have not even seen any draft of the new policy. We therefore believe that the interns should be posted on the existing policy," he added.
He opined that the government was looking for ways to lower the salaries and allowances of doctors and medical interns. He further emphasised that the strike was meant to protect the interests of the medical fraternity.
Earlier in the month, Nakhumicha had pointed fingers at the Njuguna Ndung'u-led ministry for failing to provide the Ksh4.9 billion needed to post the doctors.
Speaking on March 7, CS Nakhumicha remarked that the demand from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) was untenable.
"I agree with the union that this is not just like any other internship because the interns are in the frontline and must be compensated but in a sustainable manner," she added.
