Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha and her Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni are in hot soup after Azimio MPs called for their immediate resignation over failure to avert doctors’ strike.

The MPs, led by Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, claimed the duo are incompetent, reckless, and overly simplistic as they have ignored the strike and instead chose to deal with the leadership fights they are engaged in, whose end game will only bring down the sector.

Addressing a news conference in Parliament yesterday, the legislators claimed a lapse in communication between the CS and PS has made matters worse at the ministry.

They in particular took on Nakhumicha, accusing her of failing to mobilise additional budgets to deal with the doctor’s strike despite knowing that intern doctors ought to be placed in various hospitals 30 days after they graduate.

They argued that both the National Treasury and CS should be able to mobilise resources to have her budget increased by 15 per cent.

“If the Health CS is not able to make the National Treasury release funds for a critical ministry like hers, she has no option but to quit…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. That is the work of the CS,” they said.

Lawmakers further took on Nakhumicha by not only labelling her as a joker, but also accused her of failing the medical fraternity and the entire country.

They claimed the leadership style of Nakhumicha is underwhelming as at one time, she tried to bypass the leadership of the doctor’s union and went ahead to engage the medical interns directly, a move that backfired on her as they declined to give her audience.

Sins of the past

While supporting the strike, Wandayi said the ministry had completely failed to learn the sins of the past doctor’s strike and refused to constructively engage with Kenya Medical Practitioners Dentists Union (KMPDU) to try and resolve the stalemate.

“Maybe she is a joker. Maybe she does not understand the ministry and has not been able to make a compelling case for release of funds or she just doesn’t care. Whatever the case, Susan Nakhumicha has failed the medical fraternity and the whole country,” Wandayi said.

He added: “A wrong person in a wrong job always poses a disaster. A government that talks of universal healthcare but cannot find money to place intern doctors is a contradiction that is worrisome. Throughout the stand-off leading to the imminent strike, the Ministry of Health has acted like an uncaring bystander.

The attitude of the ministry has oscillated between cowardice, contempt and incompetence. Their sentiments come a day KMPDU maintained that the strike commencing today is on and have vowed to cripple operations in major facilities across the nation.