Four Days To Avoid Jail Term
515 views · Published 28 January 2017 · 5:52 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: Africa Uncensored · 2017 · People & Blogs
A Kenyan judge has given the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union officials five more days to end the nationwide strike or risk prison term. The clock is ticking towards Judge Hellen Wasilwa’s ultimatum, however, the doctors aren’t softening their stance just yet. The medics have told Africa uncensored they would rather be in jail than go back to a health sector that doesn’t reward the medical practitioners or has what it takes to care for patients. According to some of the union officials, the government has not just reneged on a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed in 2013 but has also failed to address the poor infrastructure that has greatly affected service delivery at public hospitals. A majority of Kenyans depend on the public healthcare system and many don’t have access to private health facilities or insurance cover. The doctors allege that the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) pays billions of shillings to private hospitals instead of public ones; a move they say creates poor service delivery. The doctors deserted work on the 5th of December last year but the government says their demands are not feasible at the moment.
