Judge orders arrest of striking Kenyan doctors
Court says officials from the doctors’ union must be jailed amid a strike in public hospitals that has turned into a test of Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership ahead of elections
Nairobi — A Kenyan judge on Monday ordered officials from the national doctors’ union to be jailed amid a strike in public hospitals that has turned into a test of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s leadership ahead of August elections. As news of the ruling emerged, truckloads of riot police took up positions and doctors wearing white gowns and surgical caps blew whistles and chanted angrily in the street. Doctors in public hospitals have been on strike since December 5 over pay and conditions. A series of corruption scandals, including an investigation into millions of dollars allegedly missing from the health ministry, has bolstered support for the doctors, even though Kenyan media has reported that patients have died during the strike. A court ruled that the strike was illegal in December. In January, Justice Hellen Wasilwa sentenced leaders to jail for ignoring her earlier ruling, but suspended the sentence to allow negotiations. On Monday, she ordered union officials arrested. "This c...
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