By Grace Gilo.
Inspector General Japhet Koome has today stated that the ongoing doctors’s strike has become a nuisance to the general public.
He stated that the medics are now causing discomfort to patients in hospitals and the general public by blowing whistles and vuvuzelas during the demonstrations.
“The Service has witnessed and received reports of the inconveniences arising from the strike, with medics lying on the streets thus obstructing highways, public roads and disrupting free flow of vehicles and movement of people,” wrote the IG.
According to the Inspector General, the medics continue to engage in demonstrations without notifying the Police which is contrary to the constitution of Kenya.
The head of the national police service instructed all respective Police Commanders to firmly and decisively deal with the non-medics intending to join the strike to cause havoc and terror per the law.
“We wish to caution all doctors to refrain from infringing on the rights of others while demonstrating, and that their efforts to disrupt smooth operations of hospitals will not be tolerated,” cautioned the president of the Afripol General Assembly.
The doctors’ strike that has since been led by the medics unions; Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) and Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), is still ongoing despite the efforts by the government through the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, to end the strike.
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This comes days after the government spokesman, Isaac Mwaura said that the government would not engage doctors until they suspended the ongoing strike.
He reaffirmed the government’s stance of paying intern doctors Ksh70,000 instead of the Ksh206,000 being demanded.
The statement ended with the IG assuring the public that the country is safe and that the National Police Service remains committed to maintaining law and order.