Patients at the Elgeyo Marakwet county can breathe a sigh of relief after Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union(KMPDU) suspended their 7-day notice for a strike, which was to start on Monday after meeting with county government officials.
The North Rift branch secretary Dr. Jackson Kamonzi said members and the county government officials meeting agreed that the county government will come up with a comprehensive report after 7 days on how the doctor’s issues will be implemented.
The secretary said they had given the notice after the county government failed to implement a 2017 CBA which was meant to address their welfare.
He said among the issues that the doctors wanted addressed were promotions, post graduate training, insurance cover and supply of pharmaceutical to health facilities among others.
Dr. Kamonzi said he hoped that their issues will be solved once and for all saying it was sad that since 2017 their employer was yet to do so.
He said the delay was causing suffering to patients as instead of working doctors were being forced to waste time shuttling from one office to another as they sought officers to address their issues.
He therefore said the medics will continue to offer normal services on Monday next week as they await resolutions of the meeting on Tuesday on how their issues will be addressed.
The secretary said doctors were ready to offer efficient services to citizens.
By Alice Wanjiru
