The Kisii County government has offered Dr Stephen Mogusu’s widow, Jackline Wanjiru, a job.
Speaking during the burial ceremony of the late Dr Mogusu at Iranda Primary School grounds Kisii on Monday, County Secretary and Head of Public Service, Patrick Lumumba, said Dr Wanjiru will report to the Department of Health Services.
Lumumba said the county had received several applications but decided to consider Dr Wanjiru for the vacancy.
“This is an assurance from Governor James Ongwae that the widow will join Kisii County’s workforce. We condole with the bereaved family and pray that God intervenes and gives her and the child a better future, ” Lumumba told mourners who had gathered to pay Dr Mogusu their last respects.
Dr Mogusu, who succumbed to Covid-19 related complications on December 7, was interred at his Iranda rural home in Marani a day when doctors began a nationwide strike to protest what they termed as neglection by the government amid the Coronavirus menace.
Read: Relief For Dr Mogusu’s Family As Hospital Agrees To Release Body
Addressing mourners, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) acting Secretary-General Dr Chibanzi Mwachonda said it is painful to see doctors lose lives in the line of duty.
“He embodied the average Kenyan doctor. Most of the doctors you know in this country come from very average families, ” he said. “He embodied the average Kenyan doctor. Most of the doctors you know in this country come from very average families.”
“No amount of threats will make us go to work. Court orders will not stop doctors from dying and neither will they reduce infections among us, ” he said.
Read Also: Crisis In Public Health Sector Deepens As Doctors Join Nurses, Clinical Officers In Strike
“We will not engage in hazardous environments. We will not engage without assurances of our treatment and compensation to young families that most doctors have. There is no point in training doctors and not employing them.”
The union boss had on Saturday said the medics have no medical insurance, workman injury benefits and compensation and also lack Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) hence increased risk of infection.
As of November, at least 30 healthcare workers including 10 specialist doctors, had succumbed to Covid-19.
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