Saturday, December 10, 2011

Officials hold day-long talks on doctor’s strike


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NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 9 – A crisis meeting between the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and government officials to seek a solution over the ongoing stalemate on Friday seemed to have hit a snag once again.
The meeting began at 10am but by 6pm nothing was forthcoming.
The government side was represented by the Ministries of Medical Services, Finance, Labour and Public Service.
“I did not invite you, we have no news today,” Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno told journalists who had camped outside the venue for more than seven hours.
The doctors began their strike on Monday after the government failed to address their demands.
They have twice rejected government offers terming them inadequate.
The government on Wednesday had proposed to allocate Sh7.1 billion as extraneous allowances to all health workers in seven months, as opposed to the three years it had indicated earlier.
However on the issue of salaries, the government maintained that it was the duty of the yet to be formed Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
The doctors have demanded a 300 percent pay increment, extraneous allowance and improvement of public health facilities.

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