The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Thursday confirmed that its Secretary General Davji Atellah had been shot by the police as he was leading medical interns in a protest within Nairobi.
Without delving into further details, the Union in a statement, condemned the incident and hinted at rallying its members to protest against the government's indifference to the plight of doctors in the country.
By the time of publishing this article, it was still not clear where the Secretary General had been shot and the severity of the injury.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the shooting of our SG Davji Attelah by the police this afternoon when he was leading the Medical interns in a peaceful march. The doctors of Kenya have endured enough! This is the straw that breaks the camel's back," read the statement.
Earlier, images showing the injured SG surfaced online, sparking outrage amongst doctors and Kenyans in general.
Images seen by Kenyans.co.ke showed Atellah receiving treatment at the Nairobi Hospital following the shooting.
Meanwhile, the protest ended as police abruptly dispersed the interns.
The KMPDU Western Kenya branch has since called for a crisis meeting to deliberate on the same.
The protest comes after the doctors on January 31 warned of a three-day strike over the criteria used in absorbing medical interns.
Atellah, who led the press briefing on that day, issued a one-month window to the Ministry of Health, to hire the interns or else all doctors across the country would down their tools.
“We write to inform you of our intention to conduct a peaceful procession concerning the delayed posting of medical interns and the payment of fees for postgraduate students. The procession is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 29th February 2024, commencing at 9:30 am,” Atellah commented.
He also vowed to collect the interns' placement letters on the stated date, if the Ministry failed to send them out.
Since then, the interns themselves have staged a protest outside the Ministry of Health offices as their demands landed on deaf ears.
