Healthcare workers still struggle to smile while the country rejoices in the victories won in the fight for workers' rights.
The secretary general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) stated that since the government has not complied with their demands, which have led to a month-long strike, the union has no reason to celebrate with other workers.
"There is nothing to celebrate as doctors because we are in pain, frustrated, disillusioned, and we have no hope when we are being forced to suffer and stay at home because agreements are not honored and violated in open daylight," he said, speaking to Citizen Digital.
On March 14, medical professionals left their hospital wards. They staged a walkout to protest the government's refusal to budge on demands that have severely hampered the smooth operation of the healthcare industry.
Did you read this?
Atellah promised to keep up the walkout until the 2017 Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA), which established a wage agreement, is respected.
"Doctors are not on strike for fun they have been pushed out of work. The government has outrightly decided to violate an agreement that was signed with doctors. They don't value them (doctors), they don't care whether they are there or not," noted Atellah.
"The strike can go on for as long as one year until the government is ready to comply with the agreement that we had. We cannot be part of promoting impunity."
Peterson Wachira, the chairperson of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), echoed Atellah's comments, pointing out that physicians want to return to the wards, but only if the government meets their demands.
"Both the union and the patients find a strike to be frustrating. We don't enjoy strikes; in fact, we feel most at ease among our patients," Wachira remarked.
In light of what he perceives as the state's "emasculation" of health workers' rights, Wachira declared that the Labor Day celebration would serve as a platform to advance their demand for fairness in the country's labor force.
"It is from the push for the labour rights that we are even able to strike and we can be able to negotiate. It won't be more of a celebration it will be more of that strife and agitation so that those rights are upheld," he said.
President William Ruto is anticipated to discuss the primary issues confronting Kenyan workers in his speech, including that the country's minimum wage was last reviewed in 2022.
Kenyans braved the rain on Wednesday morning to head to Nairobi's Uhuru Gardens, the celebration site.
