The government of Kenya is reported to be discussing the possibility of having leaders of the doctors’ union jailed this week released.
Seven leaders of the agitating doctors union have been imprisoned for one month on the orders of a labour court for contempt.
The labour court Judge Hellen Wasilwa on Monday decided to let go the suspension she placed on the one-month sentence she imposed on the doctors for earlier failing to comply with her order.
The leaders of Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Unions (KMPDU) were ordered by the court to call off their ongoing strike and rather engage government in talks.
But the talks reportedly failed to yield results while the doctors remain on strike.
The doctors are agitating over conditions of service. They want a Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in 2013 implemented by the government.
Kenya’s health cabinet secretary Cleopa Mailu is said to have noted that he will consult the attorney general of the country on the possibility of getting the convicted doctors released from prison.
Mailu was questioned over the ongoing strike by the doctors when he addressed the senate health committee.
The cabinet secretary said it was vital that the jailed doctors were released in order to continue with negotiations.
Meanwhile, doctors in private hospitals and universities have signaled a 48 hour strike in solidarity with their jailed colleagues.
Watch below how the doctors were jailed:
Source: Africafeeds.com
