Doctors during the strike in December, led by Kenya medical practitioners, pharmacists and dentists union (KMPDU) secretary general Dr Boniface Chitayi (holding loud speaker) photo courtesy of portaltoafrica.com

Kenyan doctors Saturday issued a one week strike notice to the government over what they claimed were demands the government had failed to implement since the back to work formula struck in December 2011 following a countrywide strike.

The doctors through the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union ((KMPDU) had held a strike in December last year claiming salary increments among a host of other demands.

The Union now says the Government has negated its obligations since the signing of the agreement during the initial strike and has been forced to ask its members to down their tools in one week should the government still ignore their demands .

“The initial urgency that greeted the drafting of this formula has been replaced with deliberate procrastinations with an aim of derailing implementation of the agreement,” said Mr. Boniface Chitayi, KMPDU’s Secretary General.

According to Mr. Chitayi a team that was supposed to lead the collective bargaining agreements, supposed to have been formed immediately after the December strike was suspended, was yet to be constituted six weeks down the line.

A taskforce that was to start work on December 14, formed to look into policy issues among others is yet to release its report. The report was to be handed to the ministers of medical services and Public health and sanitation for consideration.

Another agreement that the government is said to have reneged on is the employment of 200 additional doctors to reduce the doctor patient ratio, which was skewed such that the available staff were overwhelmed.

The Union expressed fears that the government was unable to pay doctors’ allowances which should have been effected starting December 1^st 2011.

On its part, the government finds itself in a catch- 22 situation since Cabinet froze salaries increments for civil servants stating that the review of salaries will be handled by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

Other civil servants have also threatened to resume a countrywide strike if their demands, set in December last year are not met.  Lecturers of Public Universities are said to be gearing up for a strike to ape their medical practitioner colleagues.