CS Nakhumicha Alleges Who Is Sponsoring Doctors' Strike

Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha now says the ongoing countrywide doctors’ strike is sponsored by cartels in government.

Speaking on Saturday, March 23, Nakhumicha claimed that cartels in the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) and National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) are envying her on how she is running the health sector.

The health CS claimed that the doctors’ strike is aimed at ruining her reputation.

"I have been working in the health sector until some people started envying me and spreading rumors, but I want to assure you that now people have seen how I plan my work. Those thieves at KEMSA, I know they are sponsoring other things,” said Nakhumicha.

She continued, “Those people who were stealing from NHIF, they are sponsoring other things. Now someone is saying that because I said we should reduce NHIF from five hundred to three hundred, I made a mistake, that I made a mistake when I said those who don't have money or jobs should be paid by the government."

The nationwide doctors’ strike on Saturday entered its tenth day with doctors from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) rallying doctors from Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Nyandarua, and Murang’a counties. 

The doctors are demanding the Ministry of Health clear the basic salary arrears for doctors as per the 2017 collective bargaining agreement.

They are also protesting against the government’s delay to post 1,200 medical interns.

Head of Public Service Felix Koskei on Thursday met with KMPDU officials together with CSs Nakhumicha, Moses Kuria, and Florence Bore over the strike.

Koskei mentioned that the government is willing to implement the collective bargaining agreement, but in phases due to financial constraints.