Nairobi, KENYA: As lecturers strike continues to escalate across the country, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Board (KMPDU) has raised an alarm to the government claiming that it has adversely affected work in the public hospitals by 25 percent.
Lecturers’ strike which stands at 70 days today since its inception, has brought a lot of mixed-reactions between the government and the lecturers union on who should blink first.
In a media briefing in Nairobi On Thursday that brought together University Academic Staff Union UASU and KMPDU, secretary general for KMPDU Ouma Oluga, stated that the workforce in the county government hospitals and that of the national hospitals have been paralyzed by lack of intern doctors who are supposed to be graduating at the end of every year.
He argued that the interns contribute to around 30 percent of the workforce in the hospitals after graduating from universities, which now is not the case as lecturers are facing a collective Bargaining agreement battle with the government.
“We don’t have interns because students are yet to do their exams. There is a shortage of doctors because there are no interns who contribute at least 30 percent of work in hospitals. We need to be serious as a country in resolving the issues affecting us,” said Oluga.
Addressing the press on the same event, KMPDU Chair Samuel Oroko, warned that they will be having a mass protest soon if the government fails to honour the CBA signed on teaching doctors who he said a yet to receive their pay following the lecturers strike.
“The Teaching staffs from the universities have not yet earned their money, received medical care or given care as workers of the Kenyatta hospital which is against the CBA we signed with the government last year.” Said Oroko.
Oroko further faulted the task force formed by the ministry of education to highlight the plight of the union by terming it as baseless on matters of resolving their plea.
George Omondi, who is a member of UASU, Cautioned students to be on the alert of fake lecturers who are claiming to be back in classes to teach, citing that the strike is still on until the government signs the CBA of 2017-2021, is when they will resume duties normally.
