Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Davji Atellah on Tuesday revealed conditions that had been set by the government during a ten-hour meeting that bore no fruit.
KMPDU had convened a meeting with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to resolve the ongoing stalemate revolving around various issues including posting of intern doctors and reviewing doctors' remuneration.
Speaking to journalists outside Afya House, Atellah expressed frustrations and disappointment, revealing that one of the conditions from the government was for the union to call off the demonstrations before engaging in talks.
Atellah stated that union representatives had been informed it was difficult to engage KMPDU while interns were still protesting.
"We don't know how to progress today, sadly, from the engagement I was having upstairs."
"On the other side we are being told to lead demonstrations and hold vigils, then afterward we can do the engagement," he lamented.
Atellah clarified that the union, wouldn't in any circumstance settle for the posting of some doctor interns without seeing to it that others are deployed to their rightful stations.
While making his remarks, Atellah claimed that the government had proposed posting the interns in clusters, an idea which the union representatives flatly declined.
Atellah rallied the union leadership to strategise on how to get tangible solutions to the issues its membership has raised.
" We are retreating to sit with the National Advisory Council leadership to discuss the mechanisms we can implore to resolve this matter once and for all."
This comes days after President William Ruto vowed to resolve the stalemate with medical practitioners amid a looming strike through a notice given by KMPDU.
Responding to concerns from the young generation in X space on Friday, the Head of State explained that the government had initiated healthcare reforms to improve service provision at Kenyan hospitals.
“I met with their leadership personally and committed to clearing their arrears by year-end,” Ruto stated.
Doctors, with the support of civilian protestors camped at Afya House on Monday through to Tuesday morning pushing for the posting of intern doctors to health facilities nationwide.
The union referred to the government's failure to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of 2017 as their basis for picketing before staging protests.
"Based on the RTWF dated May 8th, intern doctors were to collect their posting letter by July 7th, 2024," read part of the strike notice posted on Saturday 6th July 2024.
