Day: May 8, 2024

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), which represents more than 7,000 members, went on strike on March 15 to demand payment of their salary arrears and the immediate hiring of trainee doctors, among other grievances.  

Television footage showed the union’s officials and senior government officials shaking hands after signing the documents. 

“We have signed a return to work formula and the union has called off the strike,” said Susan Nakhumicha, the minister of health. 

The doctors’ arrears arose from a 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the union said. Doctors were also demanding the provision of adequate medical insurance coverage for themselves and their dependents. 

“One thing we must assure everybody, every doctor, every person that the rights of workers as enshrined in the collective bargaining agreement that is signed is that it is sacrosanct, we will always endeavor to protect that,” said Dhavji Atellah, KMPDU’s secretary general.  

He said the hiring of interns demand was still pending in court, but it was agreed they would be posted within 60 days. 

The government had said it cannot afford to hire the trainee doctors due to financial pressure on the public purse. 

The Kenyan health sector, which doctors say is underfunded and understaffed, is routinely beset by strikes. 

A strike in 2017 lasted three months, and some doctors in individual hospitals downed their tools at various times during the COVID-19 pandemic to protest lack of personal protective equipment and other grievances. 

The end of the strike will provide relief to those seeking services, especially following heavy rains and flooding that has killed 257 people since March, and displaced 293,661 people. 

“We will wish they can go back in the next few minutes because we really want our health to be back on track,” said Muthomi Njuki, the governor of Tharaka Nithi County, citing cholera cases that have arisen in some parts of the country. 

Another group of health workers, clinical officers, are still on strike.

On May 8, the State Security Service of Georgia reported that two Georgian citizens, Tristan Mushkiashvili and Valeri Tetruashvili, who were illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces on the occupied territory near the village of Dirbi in the Kareli municipality have been released, and are now safe on the Tbilisi-controlled territory.

According to the SSSG, another person who was detained with them remains in illegal detention and efforts are being made to ensure his release as soon as possible.

According to the Service, the emergency hotline and “other instruments at the disposal of the central government” were activated to secure the release of the mentioned citizens. “The central government of Georgia provided information to international partners on a permanent basis,” SSSG said.

The SSSG reiterated that “the responsibility for all destructive acts committed in the occupied territories of Georgia, as well as along the occupation line, rests with the occupying power” and added that together with international partners, the central government continues active efforts to ensure the release of all Georgian citizens illegally detained on the occupied territories.

Also Read:

• 22/04/2024 – Two Georgians Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 15/04/2024 – Three Georgians Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 28/02/2024 – Georgian Citizen Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 16/02/2024 – Two Georgian Citizens Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces
• 09/02/2024 – Georgian Citizen Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces Released
• 15/01/2024 – Georgian Citizen Illegally Detained by Russian Occupation Forces