Kenyan doctors threaten strike action as nurses' walkout enters sixth week

Kenyan doctors have threatened to join the ongoing nurses' strike, now in its sixth week, warning that the country's healthcare system is buckling under the strain. The doctors' union says its members are overburdened by duties normally performed by nurses and cannot continue to fill the gap.

Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah, secretary-general of the doctors' union, said hospitals were already facing a shortage of physicians and that the system relies on teamwork. He warned that doctors would not remain silent while the healthcare system deteriorates, adding that the union has given the government seven days to resolve the nurses' grievances before issuing a formal strike notice.

The nurses are demanding the implementation of a 2017 collective bargaining agreement, which was signed after a six-month strike. The government has cited budgetary constraints as the reason for not implementing the deal. Nursing union leader Seth Panyako said the budget excuse was unfair, arguing that healthcare is not being prioritised in national spending.

On Tuesday, hundreds of nurses marched to the office of the Council of Governors, which represents Kenya's 47 county governments. The governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission were scheduled to meet the same day to discuss pay. James Murimi, a nurse who took part in the march, said the agreement was meant to improve uniform and service allowances, which have not been revised for nine years, leaving the government owing years of arrears.

Council of Governors chair Ahmed Abdullahi has urged nurses to end the strike, noting that a court has ruled the action illegal and that individual counties may take disciplinary measures. Meanwhile, the Senate has discussed the closure of hospital dispensaries in some counties, with Senator Samson Cherargei blaming the Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for what he called a surge in deaths and a national crisis.