How Ex-PS Bor sunk the doctors-government CBA deal
Former Public Health and Sanitation PS Mark Bor told a joint parliamentary committee that he signed the CBA in June 2013, even after he had left office.
Recommended articles
As the deadline issued by the Court of Appeal inches closer for the KMPDU officials to appear in the docks Thursday, negotiations to end the 81-day doctors’ strike suffered a major setback Wednesday after the legality of the CBA was brought into question when former Public Health and Sanitation Principal Secretary Mark Bor told a parliamentary committee that he signed it in June 2013, even after he had left office.
Bor, who is currently the chairman of the Board of Management of Kenyatta National Hospital, told a joint sitting of the House Committees on Labour and Social Welfare and that of Health that he was asked by the then Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia and Prof Fred Sigor (now PS for Agriculture) to sign the document to pave way for the doctors to negotiate a final document with the government, hence he diligently executed the directive.
ADVERTISEMENT
In common practice, his signature would usher in and cement an agreement between the government and doctors, dentists and other medical professionals’ salaries increased and their working environment improved as enumerated in the 2013 CBA.
While making his submission to the joint committees, Bor said that the new team (PS Nicholas Muraguri and CS Cleopa Mailu) at the ministry wanted a working document to guide them because the doctors union had started shifting stands arrived at the talks at the time, while insisting it was an interim document that was to guide negotiations at a later stage.
The CBA signed by the government and Ouma Oluga’s predecessor Sultani Matendechere and Chairman Victor Ng’ani on June 27, 2013 would see a 187 per cent pay hike for all medical practitioners.
The agreement also included a review of job groups, promotions, deployment as well as the annual recruitment of 1,200 doctors to reduce the doctor-patient ratio.
ADVERTISEMENT
The joint House Committee chairpersons David Were and Rachael Nyamai declared Bor a hostile witness for failing to cooperate with them and ordered him to leave the mini-chambers
The fate of the talks now hangs in the balance after Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu ruled out further negotiations based on the flawed document but the doctors’ union led by their officials Samuel Oroko and Ouma Oluga insisted that “they will not negotiate anything outside of the 2013 CBA.”
The standoff comes even as the doctors’ court ultimatum issued last week by a three judge bench at the Court of Appeal expires today.
The seven KMPDU officials were last week released by the Appellate Court on condition that they present a return to work formula and present a more comprehensive report on how they plan to end the now three months old strike.
Read: COURT OF APPEAL ORDERS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF JAILED DOCTORS' OFFICIALS, RESUMPTION OF NEGOTIATIONS
ADVERTISEMENT
“The circumstances under which it was signed are suspect; there are contents of that document that we cannot relate with, and in the absence of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Council of Governors, then it is not a document we would like to participate in its implementation,” Mailu told the committee earlier.
Fraudulent document
Council of Governors Chairman and Meru governor Peter Munya argued that it was a bizarre that the country has been relying on a fraudulent document but said the revelation “provides an avenue for truly open and fair negotiations to begin between doctors union and the two levels of government.”
On her part, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) Chairperson Sarah Serem recounted how she telephoned Bor to protest his actions.
“In the wake of these issues I needed to understand what was at the back of his mind when he was signing this document. The response was… I was simply sorting out a crisis. I said by transferring it three years down the line and allowing people to die was that the solution? It sounded simple for him. I am still annoyed to this day!” Serem declared.
ADVERTISEMENT
It is now evident that the borne of contention between the doctors and the Ministry of Health is not legally biding, as it was signed by an individual who did not have powers to represent the government.
The agreement was also meant to create 400 new residency positions, establish overtime pay, create a grievance procedure for equipment shortages, and have 1,200 doctors hired annually for four years to address the severe nationwide shortage.
Currently, starting doctors earn Sh1.5 million annually, translating to Sh121,910 monthly. Under the new agreement, they would earn a minimum of Sh3.8 million annually (Sh325,730 monthly). Mid-level doctors would see their annual salary go from Sh1.6 million to Sh4 million per year.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: news@pulselive.co.ke
Next story
