President William Ruto has broken his silence, affirming that the government will not review its offer to the striking medical doctors and practitioners.
Speaking at Eldoret AIC fellowship Centre, where he attended a church service, President Ruto pointed out the government’s struggle with a substantial wage bill, stressing the necessity to live within the means of the nation.
“There will be no change of government stipend offer, the resources we have is only able to pay the interns Ksh 70,000, and that they will be employed after one year,” said President Ruto.
The President revealed that the State is prepared to pay intern doctors a stipend of Ksh70,000 for one year, urging an end to the strike.
Ruto Outlines Need for Financial Prudence
Further President William Ruto characterized the offer as essential for maintaining financial prudence in the face of a daunting wage bill.
“I know we have a situation in Kenya with our doctors and interns, I want to implore on them that it is important for us as a nation that we must live within our means,” he stated.
Ruto clarified that the Ksh70,000 stipend is not a salary but a temporary measure before interns are absorbed into permanent positions.
“The resources we have are only sufficient to pay Ksh70,000 for intern doctors,” he explained. “It is not a salary; it is a stipend for one year and then they are employed.”
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Also, the head of state assured that all 1,500 doctors and medical interns would be absorbed into the system simultaneously.
“All our doctors and doctor interns will be taken in. That is why we are going to spend the resources we have to make sure that all the 1,500 doctors are absorbed at once,” he said.
Doctors Union Calls on the President to End Impasse
KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah had earlier urged President William Ruto to intervene as the strike entered its 20th day on April 2, 2024.
Atellah pointed out that the doctors would not end the strike until the government addressed their demands.
However, until today, President Ruto had refrained from commenting on the ongoing doctors’ strike since it began.
He also faces mounting challenges within the healthcare sector as three additional trade unions issued a strike notice, compounding the government’s woes amid an ongoing doctors’ strike.
The Kenyan National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologist Officers (KNUPT), Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU), and the General Secretary of the Kenya National Union of Nutritionists and Dietitians (KUNAD) collectively voiced their dissatisfaction, threatening to down their tools.
Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha had earlier described discussions with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) as productive.
However, negotiations to prevent the strike have been ongoing since a court in Nairobi mandated the CS and the unions representing healthcare workers to convene and address the concerns raised by doctors.
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Felix Koskei, detailing the government’s approach to address the issues raised by KMPDU, outlined three measures undertaken by the national government.
These measures include facilitating the payment of basic salary arrears accrued from the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and securing budgetary support of Ksh2.4 billion to facilitate the immediate deployment and posting of the 2023/24 cohort of medical student interns.
Koskei also noted that the government provided grants and scholarships for eligible postgraduate medical officers.
