There are no funds to meet your demands, Amoth on doctors' strike

"We are where we are today because of the changing eco-system in the health sector. For a long time, we had one medical school but now we have 13. So the total number of graduates we are channeling has increased while in terms of guidelines and policies, nothing has changed in tandem with the changing ecosystem," said Amoth.

"For a long time, we have operated on the paradigm that the numbers were manageable. If you look at the total number of interns now, the number has increased in threefold. This brings other problems like where do we place them because we have a fixed number of interns in any facility."

His remarks come days after failed talks between the medical unions and the Ministry of Health in which it maintains it cannot afford to meet the demands by the medics.

According to the Ministry, the deployment of the current batch of medics will require Sh4.9 billion with each intern earning 206,000 shillings per month, which it says is unaffordable.

But, doctors maintain that they will remain out of office until the government heeds their pleas.