Uhuru rules out talks with doctors

Nairobi. There will be no further talks with striking doctors, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.

Doctors who fail to report to work will be fired, President Kenyatta warned on Sunday.

In statement by State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Sunday morning at State House, Mombasa, the president said the government will only engage the doctors after they return to work first.

Mr Esipisu said that the President stands by his earlier directive that doctors should get back to work immediately and stop the suffering Kenyans have been plunged into for months.

“The President’s stand remains the same that striking doctors must resume duty immediately. If they don’t, there will be no more discussions on the subject. We praise those who have returned to work and urge the rest to do the same,” said President Kenyatta’s statement read by Mr Esipisu.

Last Wednesday, President Kenyatta said the government was ready to sack doctors who refuse to go back to work and that he was not going to sit and watch Kenyans suffer due to lack of provision of health services.

Speaking in Lodwar, the President said doctors should not continue with their strike, now in its fourth month, and that they should avoid being in conflict with the government. He said he would only reopen negotiations once the doctors are back at work.

On Tuesday, the President, while attending the fourth Annual Devolution Conference in Naivasha, had accused the doctors of blackmail in seeking for better terms.

“President Kenyatta has directed that all doctors resume duty before any further negotiations can be convened,” said Mr Esipisu when he addressed the press at State House, Mombasa on Sunday. Mr Esipisu defended the projects being undertaken by the government at the Coast following claims by Governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa) and Amason Kingi (Kilifi) that they were initiated by previous regimes and funded by donors. (NMG)