A 21-day strike notice that health workers in Kenya issued on November 14 expired on Monday and they have made good their threat by keeping off hospitals, the Africa Review reports.
According to the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General, Dr Fredrick Oluga, the union members were striking because the government had dishonored the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) they signed in June 2013.
Dr Oluga and other KMPDU officially launched the nationwide strike at the Public Service Club in Nairobi.
Wearing lab coats, masks and theatre caps, the medics arrived armed with empty sacks that they said they hoped would be filled with their arrears.
“We have nothing else to lose, nothing will come between us and the CBA,” Dr Oluga, who has accused the government of losing billions to corruption and failing the agreement, told members.
