Former Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has opined that the Ministry of health has failed to address the stalemate with the doctors appropriately.
Speaking during a media interview, Kagwe stated that it was important for the government to pay doctors, even if it meant the ministry had to pull money from elsewhere.
Further, he said that the ongoing flood crisis needed all hands-on deck, including the support from the doctors adding that Kenyans do not need to be schooled about the history of the strike problem.
“We need doctors in our hospitals to deal with the current crisis. Kenyans are not interested in the history of the strike; they are interested in resolving the issue now,” he stated.
“When you have a crisis, you don’t have an 8-5 job, it is a 24-hour job. Floods don’t wait for you to wake up in the morning. A crisis is part of government management. When it comes, how will you manage it?”
Also Read: Intrigues Behind KMPDU Closed-Door Meeting & Why Doctors Didn’t Call Off Strike
Mutahi Kagwe Advises Nakhumicha on How to End the Strike
At the same time, the former health CS noted that it was important that the Ministry of Health addressed the main concerns of the doctors first instead of allocating money to matters of less concern.
“Because what might hurt people is seeing that they don’t get what they needed, yet completely unrelated issues and unrelated money is being spent on issues that they feel, they should get the money first before it is spent on the other issues.
“Let’s put every cent that we have in the most useful area in the crisis that we have right now. We need to pay the doctors something, and if we need to pull money from somewhere else so that the doctors get something, let’s do that,” he said.
Also, he indicated that the CBA had been there since his time at the Ministry, explaining that he was able to address doctors’ concerns while he was the CS by agreeing with them on what can be solved and what cannot and directing resources to matters that can be addressed.
“It has been there since 2017. Yes, we know that a CBA was signed and there is a legitimacy in the request that an agreement once made, has got to be sorted out.
“But as I have submitted in the past, and that is what I did during my time, it is a question of what is it that I can be able to meet, and we agree on it and proceed,” added Mutahi Kagwe.
Also Read: Uhuru Pledges Ksh 2M to Help Floods Victims, Declares Stand on Doctors Strike
Nakhumicha Signs Return-to-Work Formula
Earlier on May 3, Nakhumicha and other State House officials signed a return-to-work formula after a court ruling ordering the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to end their strike.
According to the CS, government officials were complying with a court order. However, KMPDU officials refused to sign the order and instead issued additional demands that they wanted the government to address.
“I once again reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to continue to find a permanent and sustainable solution to the Human Resources for Health [HRH] challenges that have perennially affected service delivery to Kenyans thus scuttling implementation of Universal Health Coverage,”
“I urge the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to do the honorable thing and call off the strike which has on several occasions been declared illegal by the Industrial and Labour Relations court,” she said.
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