Dismissal of doctors ‘has now started’
Doctors protesting outside the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on January 26, 2017. They have refused to return to work. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- According to Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya, the termination process started as soon as the dismissal letters were issued to the doctors.
- He also said that although counties had not started hiring new medical staff to fill the positions, they had received applications.
County governments have begun the process of firing doctors who are on strike.
According to Council of Governors chairman Peter Munya, the termination process started as soon as the dismissal letters were issued to the doctors.
County governments, Mr Munya said, had already initiated the process and served the doctors who have boycotted work for the past 53 days with show-cause letters.
“Most counties are in the process of following the laid-down procedures. The next step after showing-cause will be facing a disciplinary committee and finally termination,” the Meru governor explained.
He also said that although counties had not started hiring new medical staff to fill the positions, they had received applications.
Mr Munya’s statement came against a backdrop of defiance by the doctors, who declared they would not return to the negotiation table unless Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu and Permanent Secretary Nicholas Muraguri are sacked.
Speaking Thursday during a demonstration, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union Secretary-General Ouma Oluga said the union would only negotiate with the government in the presence of neutral mediators.
“We engage, reach agreements and then in the evening they change their position and say something contrary. We are not going to engage with liars any more,” Dr Oluga said.
