Doctors threaten strike over unpaid interns

Doctors have issued a one-week ultimatum to the government to pay interns their five-month arrears or face industrial action.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) yesterday said interns have not been paid since they were hired last year.

Union leaders met with representatives of the intern doctors on Monday and vowed to hold demos to push for their pay should the situation remain the same.

“We have already engaged the Ministry of Health, but if we do not get feedback on the way forward, we will hold peaceful demonstrations. This will be a weekly demo until the matter is resolved,” said Dr Davji Bhimji Atellah, KPMDU national secretary-general.

“The five months’ salary delay has caused them untold suffering. How do they get to their places of work? How do they feed their families? The issue should be addressed immediately,” he added.

There are also 38 pharmacy interns from the University of Nairobi who were left out of placement in December. About 245 were posted, including those from foreign universities.

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board’s chief executive, Dr Fred Siyoi, said they can only place the interns if the ministry confirms there are enough funds to pay them.

“We can only place them if there is money from the ministry. For those who can work without pay, we encourage them to look for facilities that can accommodate them. We will still supervise them,” Dr Siyoi said.

Speaking to the Nation, *Mary does not understand the criteria that PPB used to remove the 38 from the list that was forwarded to the ministry.

“The government might not have the money, but how did they decide on the 38, all of them from the University of Nairobi. There are others who studied abroad but were placed yet we were left behind,” she said.

Another intern added: “The 38 were removed from the list that was sent to the ministry. They should have just submitted all the names for the ministry to decide on who to leave out.”