

Kenya: Statement of the Medicial, Dental, Pharmacists and Specialist Associations on the Jailing of Doctors Union Leaders on account of the Ongoing Strike (14.02.2017)






The Kenyan government under the Jubilee leadership never stops giving; the Jubilee government under President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto wants to offer the world something astonishing. The same government that tries to disband and discontinue the refugee camp of Dadaab, are now prioritizing to detain and jail Health Care officials who works for a fair pay and working conditions for the Union Members. That is what the Kenyan government is up-to and what values they have!
“The Court has sentenced Doctors’ union officials to one month in jail after they failed to reach an agreement and call off medics strike as directed. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) officials appeared in Milimani Law Courts earlier this morning. Judge Hellen Wasilwa had suspended their jail term and directed Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli to lead negotiations to bring an end to the industrial action. The meeting which included KMPDU officials, Council of Governors, the Treasury, Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and other Government organs hit a deadlock after the doctors refused another deal offered by the government arguing that it is not what they were bargaining for” (Asamba, 2017).
The government that have left the NYS Scandal involved off the hook, the ones who stole the funds from Eurobonds has also been left free and so on goes it. The Jubilee government accept and produces corrupt behaviour like too much use of sugar make people diabetic. The government are behind a new scandal, instead of trying to give a proper deal and righteous deal to the Health Care union KMPDU.
That the Kenyan government doesn’t go into dialogue with the Union and KMPDU officials, instead they are jailing them for wanting the best for their members. Giving them a proper salary and working condition. The KMPDU are only doing what a union is supposed to do and because of that they are soon behind bars. If the politicians was doing what they was supposed to do, they would try to make sufficient funds ready to supply proper wages to the Kenyan medics and doctors, also make sure the Ministry of Health had enough civil servants to meet the patience and at the hospitals. Instead they are sending them court-side and also going to jail!

“Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary General Francis Atwoli wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to reign on Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu and Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri to end the ongoing doctors’ strike. On Sunday, Mr Atwoli admitted that had been unable to end the doctors’ strike, signalling a continuation of the protracted industrial action that is in its third month. He blamed the prolonged industrial action on antagonism between the two high-ranking government officials. He said: “During the talks, we discovered that there is infighting at the Ministry of Health that involves the Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu and the Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri. This affected our negotiations with the doctors’ union.” (Niyitegeka, 2017)
That the Ministry of Health are having internal problems as they were trying to negotiate with the KMPDU, it is not strange that the MOH couldn’t fix a deal; when they couldn’t work together internally. President Kenyatta and DP Ruto should mediate internally with their elected officials, so they could arrange a peaceful dialogue with the Medical Union and the Doctors who works under state contracts. Therefore if these reports are true, than the MOH has to clear shop internally and then meet the Union.
The State shouldn’t detain the officials; they should go in dialogue and fix the issues that are the reason for the strike and the arrays that are missing for the doctors. If not the warpath are only hurting the citizens and the patience at the hospitals. The Jubilee government shouldn’t wish for these dire situation months in advance of fresh elections. There are already a big sheet of scandals under the recent administration. They do not need a more prolonged strikes in the hospitals. They need to fix it and pay-up to the professional health care workers! Not detaining them! Peace.
Reference:
Asamba, Mercy – ‘Court sentences Doctors’ union officials to one month in jail’ (13.02.2017) link: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001229238/doctors-union-officials-jailed
Niyitegeka, Theophile – ‘Kenya:Health CS, PS rivalry to blame for doctors strike, says Atwoli’ (13.02.2017) link: http://en.igihe.com/news/kenya-health-cs-ps-rivalry-to-blame-for-doctors.html





The Drought Situation
The Horn of Africa is in the midst of a major drought resulting from La Niña and reduced moisture influx due to the cooling of the ocean water in the east African coast. Whilst Member States of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are adept at managing droughts, what makes the current drought alarming in the Equatorial Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region is that it follows two consecutive poor rainfall seasons in 2016 and the likelihood of depressed rainfall persisting into the March – May 2017 rainfall season remains high. The most affected areas include, most of Somalia, South-eastern Ethiopia, Northern Eastern and coastal Kenya, and Northern Uganda.
The climate predictions and early warnings produced by IGAD through advanced scientific modeling and prediction tools, which were provided to Member States and the general public, have elicited early actions (preparedness and mitigation measures). Highly comparable to the 2010 GHA drought, the current depressed rainfall and resultant poor vegetation conditions since March 2016 eroded the coping and adaptive capacities of the affected people. It also depleted water points, reduced crops, forages and livestock production, increased food insecurity, and adversely affected the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the region.
The number of food insecure human population in the region is currently estimated at 17 million. Certain areas in South Sudan and Djibouti are already under an emergency food insecurity phase, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) classification scale. In Somalia, the number of food insecure people doubled in the last year alone.
In the drought affected cropping lands (over Deyr area in Somalia and coastal Kenya), 70 to 100 percent crop failure has been registered. Livestock mortality has been particularly devastating amongst small ruminants with mortality rate ranging from 25 to 75 percent in the cross border areas of Somalia-Kenya-Ethiopia. In addition, livestock prices have dropped by as much as 700 percent.
Terms of trade have declined in the region, with Ethiopia registering a figure of almost 10 percent. This is exacerbated by a substantial negative impact on external balances, as well as a small impact on financial sector-soundness in the other countries. The overall impact on fiscal positions is a likely increase in current budget spending and deterioration in the fiscal balance and weak adaptation capacity.
Despite the downtrend in global agriculture commodity prices, the drought has resulted in an increase in domestic food prices in the region. Cereal prices (e.g. maize) have gone up by about 130 percent, while those of critical food items such as oils, beans and wheat flour increased by at least 50 percent in some pastoralist areas. The limited financial and institutional capacity for effective adaptation to reduce exposure and vulnerability will result in limited safety net to the most vulnerable households.
Drought Response in the Horn of Africa
With the early warning and technical assistance provided by IGAD, Member States have initiated early action to mitigate the adverse impact of the current drought.
Somalia and South Sudan have declared drought emergencies. Kenya announced a doubling of expenditure on food relief to ease the pressure in the drought-affected counties, while Uganda shifted some of its development resources to finance emergency response in order to address food insecurity and livelihood protection. In Somalia, the President of the Federal Republic, as well as state and regional administrations led the issuance of appeals for support and coordinated actors and efforts that scaled-up food security activities to respond to the humanitarian needs of the country.
The USD 730 million allocated by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia boosted the response effort which, coupled by an above-average meher harvest, resulted to an almost 50 percent reduction in the number of food insecure people, for example, from 10.2 million to 5.6 million.
IGAD continues to reinforce the actions of its Member States using them as guide for complementary action on drought responses. Below are some of the major actions being undertaken by the IGAD Secretariat and its specialized institutions to manage the drought in the region:
Through the IGAD Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) Platform, the ultimate purpose and objective of IGAD and its Member States is to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters through building resilience of relevant national institutions, communities and people, to end drought emergencies and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the region.
In this regard, IGAD will remain vigilant in monitoring and advising the people of the region on the drought situation through its’ specialized institution, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre (ICPAC) domiciled in Nairobi, and shall continue to support and complement regional and national actions on drought response and recovery.




