- A good number of Doctors in Nairobi’ public hospitals have embarked on a strike to protest delayed wages and lack of safety equipment when handling patients who may have COVID-19.
- He said that the strike was being commenced by 320 doctors hired by the Nairobi County government.
- In a related incident, police used tear gas against hundreds of demonstrators who had assembled at Freedom Corner in Uhuru Park to demonstrate against corruption in the purchase of protective gear.
Most Doctors in Nairobi’ public hospitals have embarked on a strike to protest delayed wages and lack of safety equipment when handling patients who may have COVID-19.
This was disclosed by the secretary-general for the Kenya Health Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Association, Thuranira Kaugiria,
He said that the strike was being commenced by 320 doctors hired by the Nairobi County government because they had insufficient health care, low-quality safety equipment and too few isolation wards to handle COVID-19 patients.
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Recent data shows 31,441 confirmed coronavirus cases in Kenya, 620 deaths and 13,536 recoveries out of 407,610 tests done so far. The bulk of confirmed cases have been in the capital.
Kenyan doctors posted pictures on Twitter of what they say is inadequate gear supplied by the government including porous overalls that could not protect against the virus.
In a related incident, police used tear gas against hundreds of demonstrators who had assembled at Freedom Corner in Uhuru Park to demonstrate against corruption in the purchase of protective gear.
The head of the government-run Kenya Medical Supplies Authority has suspended over allegations that the agency procured low-quality equipment and inflated the prices.
“We are tried of being bombarded every single day with news of how much money we are losing that should be going to fight the COVID pandemic,” said Wanjeri Nderu, a Kenyan human rights activist who helped organise the protest.
“We decided today to have a peaceful march. We were teargassed more than 20 times … some of my colleagues have been arrested.”
Activists were contemplating private prosecutions of some officials, she said.
