Union asks Naivasha doctors to attend to accident victims
KMPDU Secretary-General Ouma Oluga and other union officials at a past press conference. Their fate will be known on December 20, 2016. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
What you need to know:
- The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) urged their colleagues in Nakuru and Naivasha to attend those involved in the accident despite the strike entering its seventh day.
- The officials who attended a prayer service at AIC church said their colleagues who responded to the pleas rushed to Naivasha accident scene and helped in emergency cases.
Doctors operating in Nakuru and Naivasha have been urged to attend to accident victims and offer emergency services even as they press on with their strike.
This follows the Saturday night accident that claimed at least 39 lives.
“As union officials we have been on phones mobilising our colleagues around Naivasha to respond to the emergency and offer their services to the casualties. This does not mean the doctors strike is over,” said Ouma Oluga, the national secretary general.
The officials who attended a prayer service at AIC church said their colleagues who responded to the pleas rushed to Naivasha accident scene and helped in emergency cases.
“We condole the families who lost their loved ones in the Naivasha tragedy and ask the government to act with humanity and address the doctors’ plight for the sake of Kenyans who are suffering,” said Samwel Oroko, the union’s National Chairman.
The doctors were non-committal to call off the strike after nurses called off theirs after reaching an agreement with the government.
“Its good news if the nurses have called off the strike but our case we have not reached an agreement and the strike is still on,” said Daisy Korir, the union’s National treasurer.
“If the government has reached an agreement with the nurses they should do the same with the doctors. All we want is the CBA to be signed and that is it,” she added.
The officials made the remarks when addressing the press after the church dedicated to them in a bid to resolve the stalemate with the government.
The accident on the busy highway, some 80 kilometers west of Nairobi created a horrible scene.
According to a preliminary police report released on Sunday morning, the truck (registration number UAK 519C) hit a bump before its driver lost control and rammed into a vehicle in front and other vehicles before it burst into flames.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been updated to show the correct position of the doctors that the strike has not been temporarily called off as had been earlier reported.
