Doctors Have Nothing To Celebrate On Labour Day, KMPDU Boss Davji Atellah Says

• President William Ruto called out leaders supporting doctors' strike urging them to stop seeking popularity
• Among other demands, doctors want the government to pay interns at least KSh 206,000 monthly for their services
• As the doctors' strike persists, Davji Atellah has asserted that medics have nothing to celebrate on Labour Day

Kenyan doctors have been on strike for 48 days now. The doctors have asserted that to resume work, the government must pay interns KSh 206,000 monthly, among other demands.

What's doctors' message on Labour Day?

The government has so far refused to give in to that demand, saying that they can only give doctors KSh 70,000.

As the country celebrates Labour Day, Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) secretary general Davji Atellah stated that doctors have nothing to celebrate.

While speaking to Citizen TV on Wednesday, May 1, Atellah said that doctors are in pain because their agreements with the government are not being honoured.

" We have no hope, we are being forced to suffer and stay at home because agreements are not honoured and violated in open daylight," he said.

What's William Ruto's response to doctors' strike?

Speaking at the Uhuru Gardens during Labour Day on Wednesday, May 1, President William Ruto said that out of the 19 issues presented by striking doctors, the government agreed to meet 17 of them.

He further urged the doctors to go back to work, as the government has no money.

" We must be brutality honest with one another. There's no need to seek popularity. We were not elected to be popular," said Ruto.

Earlier on, Ruto had picked issue with leaders backing the striking doctors in their quest for better pay, among other grievances.

Various leaders, including Opposition leader Raila Odinga, had urged the government to solve the issue of the doctors' strike.

During the Wage Bill Conference at the Bomas of Kenya in Karen, Nairobi, on Wednesday, April 17, Ruto criticized the government's detractors, accusing them of engaging in populist politics that disregard reality.

What you need to know about doctors' strike

• Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya threatened to hire Ugandan doctors if doctors in the region do not go back to work.
• KMPDU deputy secretary general, Dennis Miskellah among doctors who were fired for participating in strike.
• IG Koome Faced a lawsuit over his directive to halt doctors' strike and intensify police response.

Proofreading by Otukho Jackson, a multimedia journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke