To put pressure on the government to deploy medical interns under the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), medical professionals set up camp outside the Ministry of Health offices at Afya House in Nairobi on Monday night following a day of protests.
Despite the city’s light showers, the health workers continued their picketing for the majority of Monday night outside the Health Ministry buildings on Upper Hill. In the evening, they lit candles and flashlights to carry on the protest late into the night.
Outside the facility, additional medical personnel were observed dozing off in camping sleeping bags.
Secretary General Davji Atellah of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) earlier stated that the union has been having a number of meetings to execute the return-to-work formula at the Ministry of Health and Kenyatta National Hospital.
Guys amplify those images and videos of doctors holding a vigil at https://t.co/qXFYQZUnlK tomorrow morning Nakhumincha should be home!!#OccupyMOH #Postmedicalinterns pic.twitter.com/GvefPuQ6oJ
— Mbiti Mwondi MD (@mbiti_mwondi) July 8, 2024
As per the 2017 CBA, Atellah claims that the internship posting controversy was supposed to be settled in 60 days.
The doctors announced a day and night sit-in protest at the Ministry of Health beginning on July 8 in response to the government’s disregard for the terms of the 2017 CBA.
Nevertheless, a bogus tweet from the union’s official X account purportedly stated that the protests had been put on hold since talks with the administration were still ongoing.
Later, the secretary general of KMPDU made it clear that the protests will go on as scheduled, revealing that the union’s account had been compromised.
The government and KMPDU signed the Return to Work Formula deal in May 2024 in order to put an end to a 56-day physicians’ strike.
Medical services were significantly affected nationwide during the March 13, 2024, strike, bringing to light important challenges affecting Kenya’s healthcare industry.
Also Read; Davji Atellah: Occupy MoH Demo’s Still On