Naema Celestine 
JOY SITATI
The Nyeri County Referral hospital remains deserted as patients shy away from accessing services at the institution that is the major health facility due to the ongoing doctors’ strike.
At the facility, empty wards and waiting bays have become the order of the day. Tales of some patients receiving and others not receiving services at the facility owing to the ongoing strike are not new.
With most patients complaining of lack of crucial care at the medical facility, a situation that is becoming a nightmare with doctors strike entering its 26th day.
It is for this reason that the Nyeri County Government has stopped the payment of salaries to 59 out of 62 striking doctors in the county, with County Governor Mutahi Kahiga directing for their dismissal if they fail to return to work.
According to the county chief, the devolved unit has been struggling to offer services to its residents despite having 139 doctors on its payroll even after two court decisions by the employment and labor relations court asked the medics to return back to work immediately, orders the medics have become defiant too.
Dubbling as the chair of the labor committee in the council of governors, Kahiga maintains that forth with, collective bargaining agreements will be discussed at both levels of government to avoid a standoff that has seen counties that have honored the doctors 2017 CBA
The clinical officers on their side maintain that their issues including remuneration of intern clinical officers, career progression and payment of enhanced risk allowances must be addressed before they can go back to their duties.
They accuse the Council of Governors for failing to implement the agreement already in place between the Union and the National Government and they want the president to intervene.
