Why State is in no hurry to resolve doctors’ strike

By Njoroge Kinuthia

In the recent past Kenya has had three strikes. Teachers (primary and secondary school), university lecturers, and doctors’ strike. The first two have been resolved. But almost 20 days later, the doctors are still out of work. One cannot help but wonder: Between education and health what’s more important?

The Government’s intransigence is extremely shocking.Health minister Anyang’ Nyong’o is clearly unmoved by the strike. The man must have a heart of steel; cries of dying patients don’t seem to bother him.

But why would he bother while you (the taxpayer) pays him so well that he can take the next flight to London at the first signs of a cold?

lack of medicine

If I have heard the doctors right, their main concern is rundown infrastructure in public hospitals, lack of medicine and equipment. Most of their demands are for the good of mwananchi who can’t afford a medical trip abroad. As the ‘government’ can afford the medical trips, doctors’ rantings don’t mean much. How mean!

University pay scale ‘badly tilted’

In the workplace, the sky is usually the limit for employees with a combination of good education and some years of experience. Not so at the Meru University College of Science and Technology, according to an employee who has requested anonymity.

The employee claims that it is not unusual to find workers with lower academic qualifications and experience earning more than those with superior qualifications.

Going by the official pay scale, an employees who hold certificates are ranked between grades one and four. Those with diploma certificates should be in grades five to seven, while graduates should range between eight and ten. But this is not always a must here.

“You will find some people with diplomas in grade two or degrees and in grade seven. Others are employed fresh from college and put to the right grades,” laments the employee.

The employee reveals that this disparity is hurting staff morale and wonders why the administration is not in a hurry to right the wrong. Prof Japhet Magambo, the principal, is something amiss that must, sorry, needs to be addressed?

KP workers who can’t see in darkness

The last time James O Kihali wrote on this column about Kenya Power, it was to congratulate the company for addressing frequent power blackouts at Mashambani estate, Bungoma.

Things are back to square one, however. The blackouts are back in a big way. The situation is especially bad on Sundays and the day has been christened ‘Dark Sunday’ in Bungoma. Last Sunday was no different, according to Kihali who says the power ‘disappeared’ at around 4pm.

What annoyed him was not the blackout per se but his inability to access Kenya Power’s emergency lines (0202674284 and 055-30516).

When he eventually got through, he received what he terms as a ‘standard response’ from a senior official whenever such calls are made to Kenya Power, Bungoma at night. He was allegedly informed that as it was at night the emergency team could “see in the dark”.

nightfall

“This is the answer that we get at nightfall. They can’t see when it is dark, my foot! If they can’t restore power when we have a blackout, why then are they in office?” he asks. Kihali can be reached at [email protected].

Reform’s bus bypasses CCN

The City Council of Nairobi has clearly been left behind by the reforms bandwagon, according Waldya Wilder. “With all reforms going on, I wonder when they will reach the corridors of City Hall,” he says and adds: “I think the reforms dread visiting City Hall just like Nairobians.” Waldya argues that reforms ought to have started at CCN, “especially at the Inspectorate Department”. “These people make living in Nairobi a watch-over-your-shoulder affair. Is being inhumane one of the qualities that staff at City Hall should have? I wonder when reform will reach the council’s corridors,” he says.