Governors convene urgent meeting as country stares at a health crisis

Governors, through their umbrella body – the Council of Governors, have convened an urgent meeting to address the impending medics strike.

The Council of Governors (CoG) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) will meet on Monday, December 5, following a recent doctors’ strike notice set to begin the same day.

Following the strike notice, the CoG and SRC have convened a meeting to iron out the unresolved issues raised by the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Doctors Union (KMPPDU) and the sister union, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).

In a statement seen by Citizen Digital, the agenda of the meeting is to re-look into the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by the respective counties.

“Kindly familiarize with the Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) of the nurses and doctors,” read the statement in part.

According to the doctors’ union, the county governments have constantly failed to take into consideration the agreements that advocated for a 300 per cent pay rise to the medics.

“The CBA that was signed between the Health Ministry and SRC, showed that the lowest paid doctor should earn Ksh 342,000 while the highest paid doctor should be earn Ksh 946, 000,” said KMPPDU Secretary General, Ouma Oluga, in a recent press statement.

The doctors have over the past few months been on an on-and-off strike notice, protesting the failure of county governments to honour allowances, promotions and payments to be awarded to them.

The doctors strike comes three weeks after the medics issued a prior strike notice, with Nakuru and Tharaka Nithi counties being the latest counties to pronounce a downing of tools.