Kenya: Clergy step in to mediate 3-month doctors strike

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – The nationwide doctors strike in Kenya, which has nearly lasted for three months, Thursday took a dramatic turn after the chief mediators bowed out of negotiations and left the burden of resolving the stalemate between the government and the doctors to clergymen.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), the chief mediators, previously confident that they would end Kenya’s 88-day nationwide doctors’ strike, threw in the towel, saying that they have done 80 percent of what was required but the government and the doctors have dug their heels in.

Justice Martha Koome of the court of appeal handed over the volatile matter to the clergy under the leadership of Adan Wachu, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Kenyan Muslims, to try to resolve the matter.

In her ruling, Koome said, “The mediators filed an interim report, however no agreement has been reached yet because there are certain issues that have not been sorted out. We are hopeful that with the support of the faith-based organizations under the auspices of the interreligious council of Kenya, the remaining issues might be sorted out if given enough time. They should record a consent on the way forward on 7 March 2017” .

The question on every Kenyan’s mind is whether the last-ditch effort to resolve the strike by the entry of religious leaders into the doctors' government mediation talks will produce a lasting solution.

Speaking outside the court premises, Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Ouma Oluga told reporters that doctors have engaged themselves in the mediation process for the past three weeks and they look forward to “resolving a few other issues that we still do not have an agreement on”.

According to the mediation team, the government and Kenyan doctors have failed to agree on salaries and the training of doctors, with the government insisting on a 40 percent pay hike countering their 300 percent pay hike demand.

The strike has so far taken a heavy toll on poor people in Kenya, who mostly seek for treatment at public hospitals.