The Ministry of Health has maintained its stance towards the medics' strike, stating that they will be required to report to their posting stations by Monday, April 15.
In a recent development, the Ministry sent posting letters to the medical interns via email after they were blocked from picking them up at the Ministry’s headquarters.
This change of tactic in handling the medical interns came after the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Paediatrics Union (KMPDU) had requested its members not to collect the letters from the ministry’s headquarters.
The move was aimed at protesting the reduction of the stipends allocated to medical interns, with the union demanding they be paid Ksh206,000.
However, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) has maintained that the interns will be paid Ksh70,000 after the posting.
“Interns in government today, the highest paid is Ksh. 25,000. And even in the private sector we have checked, Ksh 35,000 could be about the highest," stated SRC Chair Lilian Mengich.
The KMPDU was yet to respond to the development at the time of publication of this article.
Initially, when the medics' strike started, graduates from medical schools were demanding that the Ministry of Health post them to health institutions.
However, the Health CS Susan Nakhumicha had maintained that the ministry had not received funds from the treasury to post the interns.
In the growing debacle, between the state and the Kenyan medics, the government has retained a hard stance citing a lack of funds from the country’s budget.
On the other hand, medics have maintained that they would not get back to work despite government threats.
Additionally, Governors have cautioned doctors in county governments to return to work or risk being fired.
On April 9, Nyeri Governor, Mutahi Kahiga ordered that the striking medics would not receive their salary.
