HUNDREDS of Kenyan doctors protested in the streets today to demand better pay and working conditions in an ongoing nationwide strike that has entered its second week.

The doctors carried placards and chanted against the Kenyan government, saying it had failed to implement a raft of promises, including a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017 after a 100-day strike during which people died from lack of care.

Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union secretary-general Dr Davji Bhimji said that the strike will continue until all the demands are met.

“We have nothing else to lose but the chains of poverty and distress,” he said.

The stand-off has left thousands of Kenyans without medical services.

Health Minister Susan Nakhumicha said on Wednesday that she had instructed two top referral hospitals to recruit doctors to replace those taking part in the strike.

But Dr Bhimji said that hiring new doctors to replace those on strike would not resolve the causes of the dispute.

“I’m very sure those doctors cannot run those hospitals because those terms are quite exploitative and demeaning,” he said.

The doctors stopped providing emergency services at public hospitals on Thursday as they escalated the strike despite a court order calling for talks between the union and the Health Ministry.

Kenya’s head of the Public Service, Felix Kosgei, met union officials and those of various ministries on Thursday and said the government is willing to implement the collective bargaining agreement, but in phases due to financial constraints.