Doctors have issued a strike notice less than 20 days before the August 9 elections.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) gave county governments a 7-day ultimatum to resolve their salary issues in six counties, Meru, Kisii, Garissa, Muranga, Taita Taveta, and Embu.
Speaking to the press on Saturday, July 23, the officials from the affected counties revealed that they had gone two months without pay.
They insisted that they want action taken lest they down their tools and paralyze operations in the health sector.
Further, KMPDU noted that delays in paying health workers risk the general well-being of Kenyans.
According to the union, over 7,000 doctors are yet to be hired for more than five years with county governments only hiring 10 per cent of medical students who graduate.
Further, the doctors urged the government to ensure that any stimulus packages requested by governors be directed towards increasing drugs in hospitals, improving health institutions and the workforce in those institutions reinforced.
In 2020, during the pandemic, doctors vowed to down their tools if their concerns were not met.
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta stepped in and negotiated a deal for doctors with the county governments.
Former KMPDU acting Secretary-General Chibanzi Mwachonda revealed that Uhuru played a key role to end the doctor's strike.
"Doctors will provide services for you in the facilities and we continue to engage and hope that come January, we shall continue these types of engagements to ensure during the pandemic, all our doctors are assured of safety.
"On that note, I would like to declare that the strike by KMPDU has now been called off, we shall continue further engagements to follow up on all other matters that were raised in the industrial action dated 16th November," noted Mwachonda.
Nurses and Clinical Officers downed tools in protest of the lack of sufficient Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for those on the frontline in the war against Covid-19.
