Governor Natembeya Threatens To Hire Ugandan Doctors If Strike Persists

 

Governor George Natembeya has threatened to sack striking doctors in Trans Nzoia County and replace them with doctors from neighbouring Uganda.

The county's boss has stated unequivocally that if doctors in the county continue to strike, he will recruit doctors from the East African region, citing the paralysis of health services in public health facilities for the second consecutive month.

“Since the East African Community protocols allow free movement of labour, goods and services, I will just declare vacancies and get doctors from Uganda. Mandera County government has recruited doctors from Ethiopia and they are working for them,” an angry Natembeya said on Monday.

According to Natembeya, his administration had met all the doctors’ demands and wondered why they had refused to return to work. He said his government would stop paying the doctors’ salaries if they did not return to work by the end of the month.

Addressing more than 3,000 county government workers, Natembeya said his administration had met all the doctors’ demands, hence the continued strike.

“I have implemented all the doctors’ demands except for the promotion of nine doctors which the County Public Service Board is working on. We made a decision a long time ago and their promotion is pending with the board. We have already promoted 30 of them,” said the county boss.

He stated that the devolved unit had no outstanding issues with clinical officers because it had hired graduate clinical officers.

Governor Natembeya claimed that doctors in his county who are members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) were acting in bad faith by joining a strike in solidarity with their colleagues in other counties.

“Doctors in other counties are working, it is only the national government doctors who have a problem. It is unfair for us to continue paying them when they are not serving our people,” he argued.

Natembeya added that he would instruct the payroll department to stop paying them by the end of the month and that if the situation continued, they would be fired.

“All the striking health workers will miss out on their April salaries and they risk losing their jobs from May if they don’t resume duty at their places of work,” the governor warned.

The governor accused KMPDU of demanding a monthly salary of over Sh200,000 for medical interns, which he said was too high in the current economic climate.

“It is even more than what we pay nurses to supervise them during their internship. Doctors in private institutions are paid Sh150,000 and they do a lot of work,” he argued.

However, the county boss agreed with KMPDU that the Ministry of Health should pay all outstanding arrears and post interns.

“This remaining demand by the doctors is the work of the Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha and she should clear the outstanding arrears,” he said.