The Kisumu County Government has resorted to extreme measures to get doctors back to work despite the ongoing strike.
According to reports, a memo from the main hospitals in the county requested their management to conduct a daily roll call for all their doctors.
The Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Kisumu Referral Hospital cautioned the management of both hospitals to ensure that all their doctors arrived at work.
According to the County, the daily headcount of the doctors at work is aimed at establishing the number of medics who report to work and for the county to take punitive measures against those who fail to report.
Based on the memo the headcount was expected to start immediately after it landed to the recipients.
Further, the county is backing on court’s orders which blocked the doctors from carrying on with their strike until a Dialogue Committee is formed between the doctor’s union and the government.
However, the doctors have defied the court orders and have continued boycotting their places of work and have continued to take to the streets.
The Nairobi County Governor, Johnson Sakaja, has also resorted to extreme measures to get doctors from the county to get back to their workstations.
On Sunday, the Governor issued an ultimatum to the doctors stating that the county government had already fulfilled their demands and they had no reason to be on the streets.
Additionally, he stated that the doctors were rioting against the national government which was not their employer as they were directly employed by the counties.
On Tuesday, in an unfruitful meeting that was supposed to be held between the doctors and the government, the health minister, Susan Nakhumicha failed to show up.
However, in her defence Nakhumicha stated that the strike and commentary around the strike were sponsored by her political enemies.
