Editor's Review

  • On Sunday doctors suspended their strike notice giving room for dialogue.
  • Raila now says doctors should be more realistic in their demands. 

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has blasted doctors after they threatened to strike over alleged poor working conditions.

Speaking after meeting Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya in Kisumu, Odinga maintained that doctors should protect people's lives. 

Raila noted that doctors took an oath to protect the lives of people, and they should treat people considering the ongoing pandemic.

"Doctors need to be more understanding, and we are in a crisis at the moment, people are dying, it's not only doctors who are dying. We are in a dire situation as the economy is hurting during the Covid-19 pandemic, it's not the time to hold the Government at random, and the doctors took an oath to protect lives," he noted.

Raila asked doctors to become more realistic with their demands adding that other professions such as education are also affected.

His sentiments come after KMPDU acting Secretary-General Chibanzi Mwachonda announced that the strike had been suspended for 14 days to allow for dialogue.

Despite doctors calling off their strike, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) downed their tools.

Medics in the country have cited the lack of Personal Protective Equipment as the main reason behind calls for a strike.