AFRICA/KENYA - The Bishops call for an agreement to avoid the strike on behalf of doctors scheduled on December 5

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of Kenya have urged the government to enter into fruitful dialogue with doctors who avert a pending strike on December 5 to demand a 300% pay hike. In a statement, issued on 1 December and signed by Archbishop Philip Sulumeti, Bishop of Kakamega and Chairman for the Catholic Health Commission, under the Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC), states: "The KEC wishes to invite all parties to consider what is at stake, and emphasize that doctors offer essential services that should not be disrupted".
The Bishops point out that doctors have are committed to the preservation of life and have to do everything they can to preserve it through preventive and curative medicine. The Kenyan Episcopal Conference also calls " to abandon the culture of strikes in order to solve issues and embrace instead the culture of serious dialogue". Even the Association of Protestant Churches has called on the government and doctors to dialogue to resolve the dispute and avoid the threatened strike on behalf of doctors. Other health workers (nurses, laboratory technicians, radiologistists, pharmacists, etc. ..) have canceled their strike scheduled for December 7, after reaching an understanding with the authorities. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 03/12/2011)