Remarks Deputy President William Ruto uttered about four years ago in a bid to woo Kenyans to support the Jubilee administration have now come back to haunt President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration.
On Monday, as the Labour Court resolved to jail seven officials of the doctors' union for contempt, the DP's statement declaring that Jubilee would protect and pay doctors properly were unearthed to mock the Government.
In his speech during the launch of the Jubilee Coalition in 2013, Ruto assured the country that industrial actions would end with the then Grand Coalition Government of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Seemingly trying to discredit the Kibaki-Raila administration, also referred to as nusu mkate government, Ruto said: "Strikes end with Kibaki Government na Yule Jamaa wa vitendawili. We will pay workers because they are the backbone of our nation."
"Doctors and healthcare workers will be properly paid, no woman will pay for maternity care no Kenyan will travel abroad for medical treatment, our teachers will be paid, and our policemen will all live in modern housings," the DP promised, in his moment of wooing Kenyans.
In light of the pledge by Ruto, the current crisis in the health sector has placed the Government in a tight spot with many calling on President Kenyatta to act promptly and fulfil promises in their 2013 manifesto.
Mr Kenyatta and Ruto also pledged to transform Kenya within the first 100 days in office to make the country a fairer, healthier and better-educated nation.
The doctors have been at loggerheads with the Government over a 2013 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which they insist should be honoured.
Ruto's earlier promise to the medical practitioners was shared widely on social media after the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) officials were thrown behind bars.
Deputy president @WilliamsRuto statement on issue of Doctors anf health workers #HealthCrisisKE #DoctorsJailed pic.twitter.com/ZiYQk2fyw1
— Douglas Marigiri™ (@DMarigiri) February 14, 2017
