President William Ruto has revealed that the State is ready to pay intern doctors Ksh70,000 for one year as he calls for an end to the strike.
Speaking during a church service at AIC Fellowship in Eldoret on Sunday, the Head of State characterised the offer as a stipend the medical interns will be subjected to for a year before they are absorbed.
"I know we have a situation in Kenya with our doctors and interns. I want to implore on them that it is important for us as a nation that we must live within our means," he stated.
"We cannot continue to spend the money we do not have. I am telling the doctors that we mind them and we value the service that they give to our nation but we must live within our means."
He noted that the government could only offer the money because it was the only resource it could amass to bring an end to the strike.
"The resources we have are only sufficient to pay Ksh70,000 for intern doctors. It is not a salary, it is a stipend for one year and then they are employed," Ruto added.
"All our doctors and doctor interns will be taken in. That is why we are going to spend the resources we have to make sure that all the 1,500 doctors are absorbed at once. As a nation, we must live within our means."
This comes even as medical personnel allied to the Kenya Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) embarked on a strike demanding the State to honour earlier negotiations and deploy medical interns among other ultimatums.
Shortly after, the Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union, alongside the Pharmaceutical Technologists and Nutritionists also downed their tools with three demands for the State as well.
Brown Ashira, the General Secretary for the Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union, stressed, "The issue about recognition agreement is paramount. We have met the requisite requirements, and recognition is warranted."
The unions also want an immediate halt to discrimination and inadequate pay affecting post-interns, including public health interns, nutritionist interns, and pharmaceutical interns.
Their demands, directed to Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha, also include the absorption of all Universal Health Coverage staff and Covid-19 response teams.
Several attempts to bring the striking doctors to the negotiating table have suffered setbacks even as the State continues to assure the responsible unions that it will deploy all interns once an agreement is struck.
The Head of Public Service Felix Koskei asked all eligible medical interns to collect their letters on April 2 this year but KMPDU asked their members not to since the union had not been involved in the negotiations.
Koskei had also promised to settle all accrued salary arrears for doctors.
