Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki Tuesday expressed concern over the ongoing strike by health workers, which he says is in defiance of a court ruling.
Kindiki said the doctors have continued with their unlawful strike and it has come to his attention that threats are being made against health workers who have chosen not to participate in the industrial action.
He said that meetings, protests or other actions to pursue grievances outside the law and in violation of court orders undermine the constitutional order of the country and are therefore not allowed.
“Law enforcement agencies are directed to ensure strict maintenance of law and order to protect the general public and the health workers who have chosen to obey the court order by providing services pending the resolution of the labour dispute,” Kindiki said.
But the doctors marched through Nairobi streets before camping outside Parliament where they addressed a group of Members of Parliament.
They said it is their constitutional right to protest and demand to be heard.
The move by Kindiki which was deemed illegal by the doctors follows a ruling by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in a case filed by Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) against Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists & Dentists Union (KMPDU) and three others, which ordered the parties in the ongoing health sector industrial dispute to engage in conciliation and negotiation within 14 days.
“It is noted with grave concern that the participants in the industrial action by health workers continue to defy the aforesaid court order and to intimidate and threaten violence against health workers who have opted not to participate in the unlawful strike,” Kindiki said.
Kindiki said doctors participating in the unlawful industrial action have repeatedly threatened to disrupt service delivery in health facilities and undermine public order in general.
The health workers remain adamant that their demands must be met.
Over the weekend, President William Ruto said the country could not afford to meet the doctors’ demands.
Instead, the President urged the doctors to accept what has been offered and that the country cannot live beyond its means.
Some of the demands that the doctors have stuck to include the recruitment of junior doctors and their allowances, which they insist should be Sh150,000 per month as opposed to the Sh70,000 proposed by the government.
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