Mombasa, Taita Taveta medics to strike over delayed salaries

Residents of Mombasa and Taita Taveta will from Monday be unable to access medical care from public facilities after health workers threatened to down their tools.

Yesterday, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Mombasa branch chairperson, Hassan Mkuche, said health workers in the two counties will go on strike over two months’ salary arrears.

“We issued a seven days’ notice but no response has been communicated to us. We want to notify the public that starting Monday there will be no services at county hospitals,” Mkuche said.

Mkuche noted that doctors, clinical officers, nurses and laboratory officers will stay away from the hospitals until the counties pay their January and February salaries, and remit five months’ loan deductions.

Six different medical practitioners’ unions in Mombasa accused the two county governments of repetitively delaying their salaries and ignoring their strike notices.

The unions include KMPDU, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, Kenya Health Professional Union, Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers, Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technology and Kenya National Union of Nurses. 

Mombasa acting County Secretary Joab Tumbo did not respond to our efforts to get clarification over the issue.