End strike in five days or go to jail, judge tells doctors' union oifficials
Doctors outside the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi after Judge Hellen Wasilwa extended by five days the suspension of a jail sentence she has granted doctors’ union, January 26, 2017. PHOTO | MAUREEN KAKAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
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Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Hellen Wasilwa on Thursday also ordered the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union to continue talks with the government.
The development came as the strike entered the 53rd day, with patients from poor backgrounds bearing the brunt of the crisis.
KMPDU officials had appeared before Judge Wasilwa to give an update of the ongoing negotiations on increased pay talks with the Health ministry.
The Labour court has extended the suspension of the jail sentence it granted doctors’ union officials on condition that they end their job boycott in five days.
Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Hellen Wasilwa on Thursday also ordered the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union to continue talks with the government.
The development came as the strike entered the 53rd day, with patients from poor backgrounds bearing the brunt of the crisis.
The doctors are demanding full implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they signed with the government in 2013.
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KMPDU officials had appeared before Judge Wasilwa to give an update of the ongoing negotiations on increased pay talks with the Health ministry.
Samuel Oroko Oregi, Titus Ondoro, Allan Ochanji, Fredrick Ouma Oluga, Hamisi Mwachonda Chibanzi, Daisy Korir and Evelyne Chege also wanted to know their fate after the judge threatened to arrest and lock them up for violating orders of the court.
But the union has filed an application seeking to extend the negotiations period, arguing that they are looking forward to an amicable settlement.
In the application, the officials have attached minutes of the several meetings they have held with the ministry to their case documents as proof of what has been transpiring in the past two weeks.
The judge on Wednesday directed their lawyer to give copies of the new application to parties in the case before issuing further direction on the case she certified as urgent.
Justice Wasilwa on January 12 granted the officials a suspended sentence after finding them guilty of calling the strike in breach of court orders.
The judge suspended their sentence for two weeks to allow them participate in talks aimed at solving the stalemate.
During the sentencing in a packed courtroom, the judge had faulted the officials for adamantly disobeying orders of the court while referring to the CBA, which she said she was not aware of since the eight had failed to turn up in court as requested to explain themselves.
“As we sit, there is no CBA registered, one which can be applied and implemented. I do not know what you are complaining about and I think if you call off the strike it will take faster to resolve this stalemate than those boardroom meetings,” she said.
On that day, the judge called the names of the officials one by one and gave them time to defend themselves before giving her verdict authoritatively.
She likened the accused to biblical first king of Israel who when questioned over his failures did not admit his own mistakes.
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