BY SAM ALFAN.
The court has suspended Doctor’s union officials’ jail term to allow them finish negotiations with the government and call off their countrywide strike.
This after they were sentenced to a one month jail term for disobeying a court order requiring them to call off the ongoing doctors’ strike.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa of the Employment and Labour Relations court division said that if within the two weeks the strike will still be on then the officials will be arrested and taken to jail.
“What it means is that for today, I sentence you for one month in jail, suspended sentence which will fall down, the sentence is hanging on your heads. It will fall down on your heads within two weeks, if the strike is still on,” Judge Wasilwa ruled
The court said that the two weeks window is to ensure that negotiations continue.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa further directed the officials to attend court in two weeks’ time for further directions on the matter.
The doctors pleaded with court to give them a lesser sentence arguing that they had no powers to call off the strike.
Through their Secretary General Dr Fredrick Oluga, the doctors also urged the court to intervene on behalf of the doctors since there was a CBA that they are pushing for.
The labour court however distanced itself from the Collective Bargaining Agreement saying it was not registered with the court as required by law.
“There is no CBA that you are talking about because this court has not registered any CBA” court said.
Proceedings resume January 26.
