Recurrent Medics' strikes in Kenya

Ten years ago, nurses and doctors took industrial action to decry among many issues, poor pay. It is interesting therefore to see that today, a new cohort of healthcare workers are back to the streets, whistle in hand chanting the same lines others before them chanted.

Though we have a new(ish) government and a new ministry of health, the same issues persist. This evinces that governments are not that different. They are just the same heads wearing different makeup. Healthcare workers will have to change tact in how they deal with their grievances against the Ministry of Health.

Many Kenyans believe, and I understand them, that the only reason why healthcare workers are on strike is because they want more money. That is because that is all we seem to be focusing on when we go to the media for interviews. The public then sees this as a healthcare worker's problem and not a national issue.

When you scratch the surface, it is not all about money. It is about poor and unsafe staffing ratios, lack of supplies like gloves and critical medications, lack of food for patients, and crowding of hospitals among a growing list of complaints. These are the issues that resonate with common mwananchi. Not your salary as a healthcare worker. If we want to change the system, then we must involve the people who own the system.

In politics, the views of ordinary people are irrelevant. Healthcare workers, in the eyes of any government, are ordinary people. The real people with power are the common wananchi. You might dispute this until you go to Abraham Lincoln who defined democracy with ‘the people’ at the heart. He understood that the real power belonged to the people. And that is why politicians work overtime to keep the public ignorant of that fact.

Healthcare workers need to involve Kenyan voters in their agitation for better terms of work.As nothing is truly novel, this strategy worked in the United Kingdom last year when nurses under the Royal College of Nursing took to the streets to decry unsafe staffing levels.

The public joined the nurses on the streets. They cooked for them. They brought them water; they wrote emails to local Members of parliament. They used social media to amplify the Nurses’ voices. They challenged the Prime Minister. Ultimately the government had to come to the negotiating table.

When we take industrial action in the care industry, we need to target the primary consumer of our services who I can assure you, is not seated at Afya House. The consumer is that vegetable vendor, that farmer, that teacher, that hawker, that driver, and the tout. These are the people who have the power to change the healthcare system from the bottom up (pun seriously intended).

My plan looks good on paper and inspirational on an Easter weekend. It unfortunately calls for civic education on what a government is, what it needs to do for the people, and what quality healthcare looks like. Alas, civic education is not our strongest point.

We are stuck with elected officials who are publicly bashing the Finance Bill Act of 2023 while they took part in its endorsement in parliament. When asked why, some have defended themselves that the document was too big to read. Sweet Risen Lord, what hope does the common Mwananchi have then?

I am a stubborn believer in change though. Change even in the most unlikely terrains. I firmly believe there is hope. It starts with healthcare workers telling patients the truth that there should be medications in the hospital’s pharmacy but someone in the procurement and supply chain has decided to take their sweet time to deliver.

That there should be gloves and antiseptics in the maternity department but again, someone in the procurement and supply chain has decided Kenyans need to buy these items from their own pockets.

There should be functional hemodialysis machines in every level 5 hospital in Kenya but someone has decided there is no point in servicing these machines. After all, Kenyans can afford private healthcare in every mushrooming private renal units across the capital.

Perhaps then, Kenyans will push their government to deliver the bare minimum they promised during the fancy campaign period. Until then, I am ready for even more industrial actions in the next five years, decrying the same issues. A negative feedback mechanism from the belly of an abyss. Have a thoughtful weekend.