Doctors employed in the public health sector have until tomorrow morning to suspend their 99-day strike and undertake to return to work soon.
The Court of Appeal today issued an ultimatum to the doctors, who downed their tools last December 5, the Health ministry and Council of Governors, the last chance at mediation to resolve their stalemate that has crippled public service countrywide.
The parties are expected to report this morning the outcome of the reconciliation efforts by the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya regarding the contentious return-to work formula that has proved to be the major obstacle to a truce.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (MPDU) today lodged documentary drafts to end the strike and pave way for the signing of the 2017-2021 recognition agreement and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). But the health ministry and Council of Governors remained adamant that the doctors must resume duty before their grievances can be entertained.
Justices Martha Koome, Hannah Okwengu and Jamila Mohamed expressed concern and disappointment at the slow pace of mediation efforts that were initiated by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Commission (KNCHR). The parties had failed to reach a consensus even after the intervention of religious leaders, they observed.
