Kenyan authorities at a public hospital have sacked about 100 medical doctors for embarking on strike and abandoning post for more than a month.
Management of the hospital based in the capital, Nairobi, took the decision to terminate the appointment of the striking doctors after they defied an order to call off the strike.
The Kenyatta University Referral Hospital said new doctors had been hired in place of those striking.
Doctors in Kenya went on a nationwide strike in mid-March demanding better pay and working conditions.
On Sunday President William Ruto broke his silence over the strike saying there was no money to pay striking doctors.
“We must be honest with ourselves and the truth is that we must live within our means, we can’t borrow money to pay salaries”, Ruto said.
The doctors’ union which has remained adamant, organised hundreds of doctors for protests and presented a petition to parliament urging lawmakers to intervene in their labor dispute.
This is not the first time Kenyan doctors are striking over poor pay and working conditions. In 2017 doctors took part in a 100-day strike that saw people dying from lack of care.
The strike ended with the doctors’ union signing an agreement with the government to increase their pay.
Doctors now say part of what was agreed upon in 2017 has not been implemented.
Source: Africafeeds.com
