Stop insisting on 'illegal' CBA, Senate team tells doctors
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
What you need to know:
The Senate Health Committee observed that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)whose implementation the doctors are pushing for has been overtaken by events and will derail efforts to unlock the strike.
Nominated Senator Godliver Omondi criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta for concentrating on mobilising Kenyans to register as voters at the expense of core challenges facing his government.
Governors have announced they will resort to hiring doctors on a three-year renewable contract as opposed to the current permanent work terms.
The Senate Health Committee has asked doctors to stop insisting on a salary agreement that has already been declared illegal by the courts.
The committee chairman, Dr Wilfred Machage, observed that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) whose implementation the doctors are pushing for has been overtaken by events and will derail efforts to unlock the strike.
"They can't hang on an illegal document. Nobody has prevented doctors from coming up with another legal document," Dr Machage said on Wednesday at Parliament in Nairobi.
He said the doctors' strike, which been going on nearly two months, has affected majority of Kenyans who cannot afford medication in private hospitals.
"Majority of Kenyans have turned to quacks, and traditional birth attendants. This will worsen the situation, “Dr Machage who is also a medical doctor, said.
Nominated Senator Godliver Omondi criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta for concentrating on mobilising Kenyans to register as voters at the expense of core challenges facing his government.
“How can one register as a voter if a member of his family is sick and cannot access treatment or is being threatened with jail yet the family sold land to take him to a medical school,” Ms Omondi said.
Dr Machage said the government should not assume private hospitals can mitigate the effects of the strike, because they are few and their charges are out of reach for many patients.
He appealed to both national and county governments to stop threatening to sack the doctors for failing to call off the strike, saying such a move would worsen the crisis.
“This is easy for employer and labour relations but totally nonsense on matters of health because people are suffering. Medical services can’t be taken arbitrarily as any other services. This is a sensitive service that affects life,” Dr Machage said.
He said the committee is aware of plans by the Ministry of Health to sack all the doctors under the national government.
Governors have also announced that they would resort to hiring doctors on a three-year renewable contract as opposed to the current permanent work terms.
High demand
But, Dr Machage said doctor are in high demand in other countries and will not be jobless upon being dismissed, besides being few compared to the population they serve.
“The Council of Governors should not be tempted at all to drop into the same quagmire of laying off doctors, thinking they will be able to get other doctors,” Dr Machage said.
He said training a doctor is an expensive venture and it’s expensive for a government that values the health of its people to resort to such unwise consideration to avert a crisis.
The committee further appealed to the Judiciary to exercise caution on the matter saying sending the union officials to jail might jeopardise the talks.
“If doctors are jailed, who will negotiate? I don’t see why doctors should be arm-twisted.
"The judiciary should play their part carefully not to escalate the suffering of Kenyans,” Dr Machage said.
