Medical officers have disregarded claims by the Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome that demonstrations by striking healthcare workers constitute a public nuisance.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) said the assertion that the demonstrations are obstructing major public highways and roads thereby disrupting vehicle flow and pedestrian movement are unfounded.
The KUCO secretary general George Gibore said that the inspector general’s statement have been denounced by the Kenya Union of clinical officers as baseless and fabricated with the intentions of misinforming the public.
Last week the interior CS kithure kindiki sought to halt the doctor’s demonstrations saying they were illegal without citing any legal grounds.
However in response to this efforts by the state to halt the demonstrations, the KUCO SG has advised them to focus on maintaining law and order and apprehend perpetrators rather than instilling fear on the striking healthcare workers and the citizens.
The doctors strike is now on its 32nd day since it began on 15th march this year, whereby the medical practitioners are accusing the government of failing to fulfill promises from the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requiring intern doctors to be paid sh.206 000 per month in salaries and allowances.
So far the government has offered a monthly stipend of Ksh.70000 of which the union has already rejected. The union’s plans to still hold their demonstrations on Tuesday to further push for the implementation of their demands.
Clinical officers shun claims of disrupting public order with their demonstrations