The labour court has jailed officials of the doctors' union for contempt.
Judge
Hellen Wasilwa on Monday lifted the suspension on the one-month
sentence she had imposed on the officials when they failed to comply
with the court's conditions.
She had
asked top chiefs of Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and
Dentists Unions (KMPDU) to call off their job boycott and engage the
government in talks.
The affected
officials include Chairman Samuel Oroko and Secretary-General Ouma Oluga
who, on December 20, were found guilty of contempt after they ordered
their members to boycott work from December 5.
TENSE SESSION
The other officials are Daisy Korir, Evelyne Chege, Allan Ochanji, Mwachonda Chibandzi and Titus Ondoro.
They were all handcuffed and were expected to
be driven to Industrial Area and Langata prisons in Nairobi soon after
the tense court session.
The judge
ruled that KMPDU officials did not provide sufficient reasons why the
court should review their one-month jail sentence.
“The
applicants have not demonstrated to court any new and compelling issue,
or pointed out any mistake or error apparent on the record, or any
sufficient cause that would warrant review of the court’s order,” Judge
Wasilwa said.
The officials, she said, did not explain why they chose to disobey an order issued in December.
FAILED TALKS
She
also faulted the KMPDU leaders for failing to table in court documents
showing the proceedings of their negotiations with the government.
The
court on February 3 spared the officials jail after Cotu
Secretary-General Francis Atwoli requested the court to have him lead
the then faltering talks along with the Kenyan National Commission on
Human Rights (KNCHR).
But on Sunday, the talks seemed to have hit a dead end, with Mr Atwoli admitting that he had failed.
Mr
Atwoli did not attend the Monday session and the KNCHR, through lawyer
Suyianka Lempaa, pleaded with the judge to give negotiators an
additional seven days to wrap up talks.
But
the judge declined their request and went ahead to read her verdict on
the application in which the officials had sought to have the jail
sentence reviewed.
COG CASE
The
jail sentence was first passed on January 12 but the judge suspended it
before suspending it again on two occasions to give the KMPDU and the
government more time to reach a settlement.
Justice
Wasilwa's judgement followed a suit filed by the Council of Governors,
which had obtained a court order stopping the industrial action that
entered its 72nd day on Monday.
Doctors
protested the jailing of their bosses, saying they had suspended their
talks with the government until the seven officials are released.
At
their meeting at the Railways Club, Nairobi, they demanded that Health
minister Cleopa Mailu and his Principal Secretary Nicholas Muraguri must
go.
Mr Atwoli on Sunday blamed his failed mediation talks on top officials of the Health ministry and KMPDU.
JOB BOYCOTT
They claimed that they were ready to carry on with the job boycott for the next six months.
They appointed a stand-in committee to handle their affairs as they wait for the release of their union bosses.
The
interim team is led by Dr Richard Mogeni and he will be assisted by Dr
Denis Miskellah, Dr Wesley Ooga, Dr Allan Makokha, all NEC members and
other top branch leaders.
The team,
however, has no mandate to negotiate with the government. The health
workers said they would hold a night vigil at the two prisons.
Rights
activist Boniface Mwangi, who joined the Railways meeting, said he
would join the doctors on Wednesday in their march to State House to
demand for their rights
This
came as University of Nairobi medical students based at Kenyatta
National Hospital said they would block Ngong Road on Tuesday morning to
demand the release of the seven officials.
2013 CBA
Doctors
downed their tools to push the government to implement a collective
bargaining agreement (CBA) they signed in 2013 that, among others,
sought to improve their salaries and working conditions in public
hospitals.
But the government
rejected the CBA, with governors saying they were not involved in the
2013 deal though they employ 80 per cent of doctors after the health
services were devolved.
The Senate
Health Committee recently told doctors to abandon the CBA and gun for a
new one because the old deal was signed by Mark Bor, a permanent
secretary it said had been demoted two days earlier.
The
jailing of the officials now deepens the crisis that has gripped health
facilities across the country, with poor patients bearing the brunt of
the two-month paralysis.
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