Azimio wants Health CS Nakhumicha to step down

Azimio Leaders led by Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi addressing the media in Parliament on March 13, 2024. [Boniface Okendo, Standard

The Azimio la Umoja Coalition has called for the resignation of Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha over the delay in the posting of medical interns.

National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi accused the Cabinet Secretary of dealing with the matter casually and incompetently.

"It is incompetence of the worst type for the CS to keep lamenting that the National Treasury has not given her money. It is not for the doctors or Kenyans to look for money from the National Treasury," said Wandayi.

"If the Health CS is not able to make the Treasury release funds for a critical ministry like hers, she has no option but to quit."

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) has since issued a strike notice effective today at midnight, claiming the government has demonstrated a lack of commitment to resolving the issues at play.

To that effect, Wandayi said the Health CS should be prepared to take responsibility for any deaths that may result from the strike.

"What is it that the Ministry of Health did not see coming? It is the government's policy that interns should be posted 30 days after graduation. It has been delayed by eight months, and there is no end in sight. Didn't the government know the number of doctors who were going to graduate each year and the policy that they have to be posted as interns, thirty days after graduation," he said.

KMPDU Secretary-General Davji Atellah said that despite their previous seven days' strike notice, the government has relented on addressing the plight of healthcare workers.

"Regrettably, the government has shown a lack of willingness to address these pressing concerns, leaving healthcare workers in a state of frustration and dismay. Therefore, it is with great disappointment that we announce the commencement of a nationwide strike starting from midnight today March 13, 2024," he said.

There are currently over 4,000 qualified unemployed medical interns who are awaiting posting.