Kilifi joins counties halting doctors’ salaries amid strike standoff » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 13 — Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro has joined his counterparts vowing disciplinary action against striking doctors and clinicians amid a stalemate on a court-ordered mediation.
Mung’aro announced the decision to suspend the salaries of striking medics on Friday after his counterparts in Kakamega, Kiambu, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi and Kisumu ordered a similar response.
He warned that the county will not pay doctors who fail to report to work and continue extending their absence adding they risk losing their jobs.
“If they are saying that they are in solidarity with other doctors striking then I can also say I am in solidarity with the other counties that are not paying their doctors and then choose not to pay them as well,” he said.
He however said that 95 per cent of the doctors in the county were working.
Mung’aro said Kilifi doctors and the county administration have always engaged in constructive dialogue and agreed on benefits, internships and promotions.
He said it would be unjust for doctors in Kilifi to join in the nationwide strike ordered by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Unions (KMPDU).
Kilifi County said it addressed outstanding issues in December 2023 when it signed a return-to-work formula with regional KMPDU officials. Key among concessions made at the time was the promotion of 101 doctors across different cadres.
Mung’aro’s comment on the nationwide strike came against the backdrop of a position taken by the Council of Governors terming the 2017 CBA with KMPDU and the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) untenable.
The national government subsequently echoed the position saying the CBA was signed under duress.
Coordinated response
Kiambu County Governor Kimani Wamatangi announced on Friday that his county will halt salary payments to any striking doctor, as well as any other health practitioners taking part in the KMPDU-led strike.
Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o also ordered the freezing of salaries for striking medics.
Nyong’o instructed the County Secretary and the County Public Service Board to stop the salaries saying the county government will not pay for services not rendered.
His counterpart for Nyeri Mutahi Kahiga also ordered the County Public Service Board and Treasury to stop the salaries of 59 doctors participating in the nationwide strike.
Kahiga said that the County will not honor doctors’ salaries since they have gone against the county employment policy.
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki ordered all striking doctors and clinical officers to resume work by Monday, April 15, or risk losing their jobs.
Kakemega’s Fernandes Barasa equally ordered striking doctors to return to their duties or face immediate dismissal.
Doctors downed tools on March 6 to demand the posting of graduate doctors for internships with KMPDU subsequently rejecting a government offer of Sh70,000, insisting that the interns are paid Sh206,00 as set out in the 2017 CBA.
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