The amount of money the doctors are demanding is too little compared to that lost through corruption in the Jubilee government, Opposition leader Raila Odinga has said.
Speaking in Kisii on Monday during a rally which saw former Kenyan Ambassador to the UN-Habitat Prof Sam Ongeri officially join ODM, Raila said President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have failed Kenyans.The ODM leader regretted that the government had taken too long to resolve the 72-day-old doctors’ strike, while patients languish, leading to deaths.Raila said the President and his deputy cannot bring development in the country.“Madaktari wamegoma kwa miezi miwili na nusu huku Wakenya wakifariki hospitalini. Wananchi wanazidi kuumia ilhali Uhuru na Ruto wanasafiri kote nchini kwa ndege wakitafuta kura. Si hiyo ni aibu? Fedha ambazo madaktari wanataka kulipwa ni kidogo mno ikilinganishwa na magunia ya pesa ambayo Uhuruto wanabeba kila siku. Hawana huruma kwa Wakenya na hawawezi kuleta maendeleo,” Raila said in Kiswahili at the Gusii Stadium.(It’s now two and a half months since the doctors begun their strike. Kenyans are suffering and others are dying in hospitals, while Uhuru and Ruto are flying across the country seeking votes. Isn’t that shameful? The money doctors are asking for is too little compared to the amounts they spend every day. They don’t sympathise with Kenyans and cannot bring development!”On Monday, Labour Court Judge Hellen Wasilwa sentenced doctors’ union officials to one month imprisonment for contempt of court.The Judge had asked the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Unions (KMPDU) officials to call off their strike and engage the government in talks.The talks, however, collapsed despite Cotu secretary general Francis Atwoli being the mediator.The jailed officials include Chairman Samuel Oroko and Secretary-General Ouma Oluga, Daisy Korir, Evelyne Chege, Allan Ochanji, Mwachonda Chibandzi and Titus Ondoro.Interim KMPDU officials have said they will not engage in any negotiations until their bosses are released.They have accused the government of frustrating the talks, by forcing them to sign return to work formula.The doctors want the collective bargaining agreement they signed in 2013 fully implemented.