Kenyan doctors reject Sh7bn pay offer

Talks between the government and striking doctors collapsed on Friday after the latter rejected the government’s latest offer of Sh7.1 billion.The strike, which has paralysed services in public hospitals countrywide, has now moved to the courts after the government and medical practitioners’ union failed to agree.Public Services Minister Dalmas Otieno who stepped in for Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o during the talks said the government had taken the drastic measure after doctors refused to “accept our reasonable offer”.   “Let us meet in court and that could be as early as Tuesday. This is because there has to be an arbiter. The Labour Relations Act is specific that medical practitioners cannot picket,” Mr Otieno said at 6pm after chairing the day-long meeting at Afya House, Nairobi.He said the government had done its best by offering Sh7.1 billion.But the secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, Dr Boniface Chitayi, vowed to continue with the strike and dared the government to go to court.Click here