The court of Appeal today ordered the release of seven Kenyan medical doctors officials who had been sentenced to one-month in jail by a lower court on Feb 13. However, they are expected back in court on February 23 pending the hearing and determination of the appeal against Justice Hellen Wasilwa earlier sentence.
As a sign of protest, private hospitals operating in the country today closed their facilities for 48 hours. In Nairobi Hospital, patients had to be turned away after it joined other private facilities in a show of defiance. The Kenya medical Association Coast division Chairman Nehendra Pancholi said that all private hospitals in Coast would follow similar suit. He called for the resignation of senior officers at FAfya House whom he described as an obstacle to the negotiation process.
The protracted Doctor’s strike has been active for 74 days after their officials failed to reach a deal with the government. President Uhuru Kenyatta had offered them a 40% increase but they turned it down. Even the intervention of COTU Chairman Francis Atwoli failed to end the impasse with the medics demanding the full implementation of the 2013 CBA that they had signed with the government.
James Orengo and Philip Murgor lead the team of lawyers that represented the jailed Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union officials.
