KMPDU Officials Perform Hilarious Quartet On Doctors' Strike: "Nakhumicha Atapita, Chama Itasimama"

• The doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists' Union went on strike on Friday, March 15
• According to the union's secretary general, Davji Atellah, they would not settle for anything less than the demands raised in the negotiations
• Atellah and three other union officials excited Kenyans with their quartet performance to reiterate their steadfastness in the pursuit of better terms

Michael Ollinga is a journalist at TUKO.co.ke with over 10 years of experience covering courts and crimes, special reports, and current affairs in Kenya.

It has been 42 days since Kenyan doctors went on a nationwide strike on Friday, March 15, 2024.

Why are Kenyan doctors on strike?

The medics under the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) stopped offering services in public hospitals to compel the government to implement a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they negotiated in 2017.

Kenyan medics hit international headlines in 2017 after going on strike for at least 100 days to get the government to sign a CBA.

The CBA advocates better working conditions, insurance coverage for medics, and better payment of medical interns, among other issues.

On Monday, April 22, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei assured Kenyans that the government and KMPDU were nearing a deal and hoped the medics' union would sign a return-to-work formula on Tuesday, April 23.

A Cabinet brief for a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, April 23, indicated that through the Ministry of Health, Treasury, and Labour, the national government had addressed three out of four issues pitting them against the doctors, save for one intern doctor's stipend.

Who is the KMPDU Secretary General?

In a quick and fiery rejoinder, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah said they would not settle for anything that did not cover all the 19 issues they raised concerning the county and the national government.

He said the government's failure to address the request to pay intern doctors a stipend of KSh 206,000 instead of the KSh 70,000 the former offered meant there was no deal, and the strike would go on.

The doctors' hard stance and refusal to sign a return-to-work formula on Tuesday, April 23, offended the government, which threatened to go to court to compel the doctors to end the strike.

KMPDU choir members

Shortly after Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha threatened to sue the union, Atellah, KMPDU Western branch chairman and NEC member Joseph Makomere, Deputy Secretary General Dennis Miskellah, and South Rift chairman and NEC member Kevin Cheruiyot hit back through a song.

In what sounded like a well-rehearsed presentation, the doctors broke into a song to reiterate the union's steadfastness.

They categorically stated that the union was there to stay and that the health CS, like her past colleagues, would one day not be the one in charge of the docket.

"Chama litasimama, Chama litasiamama, Nakhumicha atapita lakini chama litapita (the union will remain strong, Nakhumicha will one day leave, but our union will remain)," the quartet sang in a harmonised the song to the amazement of social media followers.

As they harmonised the chorus, they chanted "Long live the union" to mark the end of the presentation that has gone viral.

"This is a great choir; composition 80%, composure 90%, tone 95%, dress code 98%, stage position 100% and theme 100%," Junior Makori commented on the video.

Joel Jirani joked that the KMPDU choir was ripe to replace the celebrated State House Choir.

"KMPDU choir set to replace State House choir. Bwana, someone to tell those in state house to start packing their belongings," he commented.

State of doctors' strike in Kenya

• KMPDU deputy secretary-general Dr Dennis Miskellah confirmed to the media that he had been fired for participating in the strike.
• The doctors were dissatisfied with the government after it fulfilled 18 of the 19 demands it needed to be addressed
• Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria vowed the government would not pay intern doctors KSh 206,000.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.