Healthcare workers yesterday protested in Nairobi, citing discrimination, corruption and pending issues in the 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Some medics downed their tools and picketed outside Afya House, the Ministry of Health headquarters in Nairobi, for the better part of the day, while another group protested outside Kenyatta National Hospital and Nairobi Hospital.

In Nairobi, clinical officers marched in a peaceful demonstration that kicked off at Green Park, near Railways Club, and made a stop outside the Afya House entrance before ending up at the Social Health Authority (SHA) offices.

Systemic barriers

In a related but separate event, leaders of the Rural and Urban Private Hospitals Association (RUPHA) cited existing systemic barriers that require immediate attention in the ongoing rollout of the SHA health insurance scheme.

“The overall transition score remains unchanged from November, reflecting stagnation in resolving systemic challenges across key metrics,” said RUPHA chairman Dr Brian Lishenga during a press briefing in Nairobi.

“Urgent, targeted interventions are required to advance the SHA transition.”

While urgent interventions are required to facilitate a timely and careful transition, he said, incremental improvements in areas like e-contracting and patient verification, broader challenges in financial stability, system functionality, and care delivery remain critical hurdles.

Outside KNH, Nairobi Hospital and Afya House, doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) held a peaceful demonstration to protest delays in implementing a return-to-work formula (RTWF) and CBAs signed after their May 2024 strike.

KMPDU reiterated plans to begin a nationwide doctors’ strike on December 22.

“This coming Friday, we are not going to admit patients,” KMPDU secretary general Dr Davji Atellah, said, citing what he called the government’s failure to deliver on its promises.

“The government has repeatedly ignored court orders, violated CBAs, and disregarded RTWF agreements,” he said.

“The medical fraternity has had enough. We will strike today, not tomorrow. From midnight on December 22, 2024, we will take to the streets and stay at home. The time for empty negotiations has passed.”

Doctors’ frustrations stems from what they say is the government’s inability to address critical issues.

“We demand that the government honour its promises and implement our agreements,” Atellah added.

Signed agreements

The doctors’ latest protest is aimed at pressuring the government to fulfill long-standing agreements made with the union. These agreements include a CBA signed on June 30, 2017, and an RTWF agreed upon on May 8, 2024.

The union has voiced concerns that the government’s failure to implement these agreements has severely impacted doctors’ welfare and hampered health services in public and private sectors.

Meanwhile, members of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) protested against two key issues the leadership cited are affecting their professional practice and by extension patients by limiting key services.

“The first issue is where the Ministry of Health in conjunction with SHA have single-handedly decided to discriminate against facilities owned by clinical officers, by not contracting them under empanellment,” said KUCO secretary general George Gibore.

KUCO, he said, is against people Gibore described as criminals who are perpetuating corruption at the ministry and SHA.

“As we speak here today, we are complaining about over 1,000 facilities owned by clinical officers and were empanelled under the NHIF, and now they have been denied their right to see patients, and unfortunately it’s not all patients, but those registered under SHA,” he added.