KENYAN doctors have begun a nationwide strike, accusing the government of failing to implement a raft of promises from a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017 after a 100-day stoppage.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union said that its members had walked out to demand comprehensive medical cover and because the government has yet to post 1,200 medical interns.

Union secretary-general Dr Davji Bhimji said 4,000 doctors were taking part in the strike despite a labour court order asking the union to put the action on hold to allow talks with the government. 

Deputy secretary-general Dr Dennis Miskellah said they would disregard the court order in the same way that the government had disregarded three court orders to increase doctors’ basic pay for and reinstate suspended physicians.

Dr Miskellah said that medical interns make up 27 per cent of the workforce in Kenya’s public hospitals and their absence means that more sick people are being turned away. 

Some doctors, however, have remained on duty to ensure that patients in intensive care units don’t die.

In an interview with leading broadcaster Citizen TV, Dr Miskellah said doctors were committing suicide out of work-related frustration, while others have had to fundraise to pay for treatment when they fell ill for due to a lack of a comprehensive health coverage.

In 2017, doctors at Kenya’s state-run hospitals staged a record 100-day strike to demand better wages and government action to restore the country’s dilapidated public health facilities. They also demanded continuous training of and hiring of doctors to address a severe shortage of health professionals.

At the time, public-sector doctors, who train for six years at university, earned a basic salary between about £310 and £670 a month, similar to some police officers who train for just six months.