By Faith Anene, Kakamega
Kakamega County’s promise of better healthcare under Governor Fernandes Barasa’s six-point development agenda is collapsing before patients’ eyes.
What was once a promise of accessible to universal healthcare in the county has become a painful reminder of systemic neglect, where drugs are missing, doctors are demoralized, and patients are left to fend for themselves.
At Kakamega General Hospital, the county’s largest referral facility, essential drugs are out of stock. Families, many already struggling financially, are being forced to purchase medication from expensive private pharmacies operating outside the hospital compound.
The crisis has now reached a boiling point with now the County Government using enforcement officers to engage striking doctors in a cat and mouse game.
The medics, who have been on strike for nearly a month, were barred from marching to the Governor Barasa’s office to demand better pay, long-overdue promotions, and remittance of unpaid insurance deductions.
We cannot be silenced by force. These scare tactics only deepen the crisis. Instead of listening, the county government sent askaris to intimidate us.We are not criminals, we are professionals demanding what is rightfully ours,” ~ Dr Maskela
Dr. Maskela Dennis, the national deputy chairperson of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), while addressing journalists at the hospital gate accused the county government of humiliating them by blocking their peaceful procession and treating them like criminals instead of professionals.
The union demanded the county government to stop using enforcement officers and alleged imposters to harass and intimidate medics during lawful industrial actions.
We cannot be silenced by force. These scare tactics only deepen the crisis. Instead of listening, the county government sent askaris to intimidate us.We are not criminals, we are professionals demanding what is rightfully ours,” said Dr Maskela
According to Dr. Maskela, many doctors have served for years without promotion or salary adjustments, despite being eligible. Instead of addressing their grievances, the county had opted to deploy enforcement officers to disrupt their activities.
He also raised concerns over unpaid insurance contributions, noting that while deductions were made from their monthly salaries, the county had failed to remit the payments. This failure, he said, had put not only the doctors’ lives at risk, but also those of their families.
Dr Joseph Makomer, KMPDU Western Branch Chair, echoed the frustrations, warning that the shortage of doctors, poor staffing, and intimidation tactics are crippling the healthcare system. “Hospitals are at risk. Patients are suffering. But the county continues to ignore our pleas.”
Dr Makomer urged county governments to employ more doctors to address the severe shortage in public hospitals. He criticized the Kakamega County administration for deploying enforcement officers to confront striking medics instead of engaging with their concerns.
He said counties had abandoned their responsibility to hire doctors and improve their pay, adding that the governor had refused to listen to their grievances.
Makomer warned that public hospitals were at serious risk due to the acute shortage of medical personnel and emphasized that only through proper staffing and dialogue could the crisis be resolved.
County officials have remained tight-lipped amid the escalating crisis. When contacted for comment, it was claimed that Governor Barasa was holed up in a cabinet meeting and therefore unavailable to comment on the matter.
Earlier, KMPDU Secretray General, Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah described the state of healthcare in Kakamega as “dire.”
“Doctors have been on strike for over for many days, not because they are not committed to serving, but because they’ve endured seven years without promotions, statutory deductions are not being remitted, they’re working under locum contracts that pay less than a third of what the CBA stipulates, and they have no access to medical insurance,” said Dr. Atellah.
While other counties in the region have made strides—including converting contractual terms to permanent and pensionable status, Kakamega lags behind, he noted.
