‘We wi*l not be ambushed, coerced’ – KMPDU’s Attellah tells gov’t

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union secretary general Davji Attellah has stated they will not sign a return-to-work formula with the government that goes against their wishes.

The medics' union has stood their ground despite the government's effort to end the over-one-month strike.

Attellah claimed the government attempted to use threats and force KMPDU to sign an incomplete return to work formula, which they rejected.

"Last evening, another attempt by the Union to negotiate failed after the government side refused to engage us on any of the clauses that the National Advisory Council, NAC, found unsatisfactory. They instead decided to use veiled threats and blackmail to force us to sign an incomplete and one-sided return-to-work formula.

"KMPDU will not be ambushed or coerced to sign a document that goes against our CBA 2017. We will not succumb to the intransigence of the government, nor shall we honour a marriage proposal to sacrifice our union members at the altar of cheap theatrics and short-lasting pleasure. We shall not be intimidated," Atellah said in a statement on X.

According to the KMPDU top official, the strike was avoidable, but the government, he says, has never wanted to implement previous agreements.

"This was the most avoidable strike if not for the incompetence of the leadership at the Ministry of Health and the trivialization of our concerns by counties and their refusal to comply with court orders.

"We have patiently waited for seven years for our hard-earned CBA to be implemented, during which we have gone through endless consultations, negotiations, and court processes whose outcomes employers never implement nor obey. The most recent progressive process resulted in an implementation matrix signed on January 6, 2023, by the CS for Health, COG representatives, and the union," he added.

He said the doctors will stand up for their profession, for the patients, and for the future generations of health and public sector workers.

"We have been on strike for 52 days, and it is clear that this government does not intend to negotiate in good faith. We have always said that the government is on strike. We welcome their decision to end their strike and sign a return-to-work formula. We hope they will now submit themselves to their call of duty.

"They have consistently said that they have conceded 99.9 per cent of the issues we wanted addressed. Today we challenge them to make public these 18 issues and the timelines; otherwise, we shall expose them for the dishonest men and women that they are," he continued.

Government blamed

He said the Kenya Kwanza government is to blame for the ongoing strike as they came up with an agreement that could not be agreeable to all parties.

"More than ever, we now believe that this government does not care about Kenyans because last evening we went to the meeting with the intention of ending the strike.

"We flew in all the NAC members so that we would be able to vote and end the strike, but we were treated to belligerence and theatre of the absurd, where one side came up with an RTWF only agreeable to them and proceeded to sign it alone despite the court ruling otherwise.

"This despite the suffering of Kenyans occasioned by the floods and the risks of waterborne diseases," he concluded.

He vowed that KMPDU will, on Monday, May 6, move to court and present their position on the ongoing strike.