Doctors in Mandera have gone on strike accusing the county of failing to increase their remuneration.
The doctors also accuse the county of failing to improve security at their work places.
The strike, which started on Thursday, caused confusion at the Mandera County Referral Hospital as patients remained unattended with some seeking referrals to private facilities.
“We are on strike that started last midnight due to a stalled negotiation process between the doctors union and Mandera County executive,” said Dr Ibrahim Maalim, Secretary of Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist Union (KMPDU) North Eastern Chapter.
Dr Maalim said negotiations were in relation to unresolved grievances emanating from the 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) signed by the Mandera County government and KMPDU.
“Some of the unresolved grievances include, but not limited to, poor working conditions, security of doctors on call, shortage of specialists, stalled promotions and release of doctors for postgraduate training,” he said.
He said the county executive is putting doctors’ lives at risk when they are transported using Toyota Probox cars at night while on call.
“Our security is never guaranteed and we want the county government to stop picking doctors on call in Propoxes at night when it is known to be very unsafe,” he said.
According to Dr Maalim, the cars are targeted by both local security teams and the Al-Shabaab terrorists who roam at will in Mandera.
“We want security of all doctors assured among other things before we resume duty,” he said.
In April, two Cuban doctors, Landy Rodriguez (a surgeon) and Herera Correa (general practitioner) were abducted by suspected Al-Shabaab militants as they reported to work and their whereabouts still remain unknown.
“From February 2019, the union has been following up on the raised issues with no response. The county government has failed to show goodwill in honouring the agreement, forcing us to turn into industrial action as a last resort,” said Dr Maalim.
The KMPDU North Eastern boss advised residents to seek medical services elsewhere since there will be no doctors in county government hospitals.
They accused the county of failing to promote them over the past six years and also failing to attract more specialists.
They also seek to be properly housed by the county government.
Out of seven doctors offering services at the Mandera County Referral Hospital, only three reside within the facility with rest living in rented houses elsewhere.
While responding to the doctors’ grievances, County Health Executive Mahamud Adan Mohamed said Mandera has been generous in releasing doctors for studies.
“We have prioritised health in this county and we placed all recruited doctors in higher job groups compared to the rest of the country,” he said.
The county minister maintained that doctors in Mandera have been properly remunerated since 2013.
He maintained that services will be offered in the hospitals since other medical staff are still on duty.
However, Mr Mohamed admitted that doctors on call are being transported in Probox cars after some county government vehicles broke down.
“We sought alternative means after our vehicles broke down and during negotiations we allocated a utility vehicle belonging to the county to ensure that those to be picked are picked on time,” he said.
Mandera has a total of 36 doctors working in the seven sub-counties according to KMPDU, but Mr Mohamed said the county has 42 doctors.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses and the Kenya National Union of Clinical Officers plan to join the doctors in the strike from Monday over a CBA signed in 2017.
But Mr Mohamed denied having received a strike notice from the two unions.
“The strike declared by doctors is illegal and it not will hinder service delivery at health facilities in Mandera because we have alternatives to be applied,” he said without revealing what measures have been put in place.
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