Striking medics in Eldoret Town were forced to prematurely end their protests on Monday after they were countered by hundreds of youth.
The youth staged a counter-protest at the same venue where the doctors had prepared to organise their march.
Overwhelmed by the huge number of locals blocking the roads, the medics retreated to re-strategise.
Some of the doctors seemed enraged by what they had met and wanted to engage the protesting locals. They had to be restrained by their leadership.
The youth who are against the strike threatened to stone the doctors if they did not return to their workstations.
Instead of going back to their workstations, the doctors instead chose to kneel in the middle of the street and start praying for patients.
Despite the confrontation, the doctors maintained they would not resume work until the government honoured the Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) signed in 2017.
Police officers were seen on the scene but did not interfere with any of the two concurrent protests.
After the doctors knelt to pray, the youth staging counter-protests refrained from their initial threats of stoning the medics.
Among the demands doctors want fulfilled by the national government include; promotion of qualified doctors as well as placement of medical interns at a Ksh206,000 monthly salary.
This played out at the same time that the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) announced that the union had sued Inspector General (IG) of Police Japhet Koome over defamatory remarks.
The IG on Sunday, April 14, termed the striking medics as a public nuisance who were causing discomfort to patients through the blowing of whistles and vuvuzelas.
