Learning at Moi University College of Health Sciences Disrupted As Doctor-Lecturers Begin Strike

Learning at the Moi University College of Health Sciences is set to be disrupted beginning today, November 29, 2021, as doctor-lecturers make good their threat to go on strike.

The over 150 doctor-lecturers who are also consultants, medical officers, pharmacists, dentists, post-graduate, and undergraduates are demanding unpaid salaries and allowances amounting to over Ksh200 million.

According to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Union (KMPDU) Secretary-General Dr. Davji Atellah, the strike begins after a lapse of a 14-day notice they issued to Moi University management.

“The Moi University College of Health Sciences will not be functional until all these funds the management is holding are released to doctors and specific lecturers,” said Dr. Atellah.

The doctors’ union notes that the doctor-lecturers have not been paid over Ksh1.5 million each, arrears that cumulatively amount to over Ksh200 million.

In a phone interview with Uasin Gishu News, Dr. Atellah said the Ministry of Treasury released the money a long time ago, and that Moi University management was illegally holding onto it.

“This strike will affect learning at Moi University College of Health Sciences and to some extend Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) as over 100 consultants and post-graduate students also offer services there,” he said.

KMDU notes that Moi University has admitted receiving the cash meant to pay the doctor-lecturers but cannot commit to when they will be released.

“Doctors cannot continue working when their allowances have not been paid. We need to find a way out of this problem that has been caused by mismanagement at the university,” said Dr. Atellah.

Moi University lecturers and other non-teaching staff are also currently on strike, demanding full implementation of the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The strike has affected learning at the institution which despite recalling students, the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) said parents would be better off having their children at home.