{"id":30939,"date":"2016-12-09T00:14:11","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T00:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/kenya-religious-leaders-call-on-striking-medics\/"},"modified":"2016-12-09T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T00:14:09","slug":"kenya-religious-leaders-call-on-striking-medics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/kenya-religious-leaders-call-on-striking-medics\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya:Religious leaders call on striking medics to resume work as they dialogue with govt"},"content":{"rendered":"

{Religious leaders have called on the striking health workers to return to work and save lives as they seek dialogue with the government.}<\/p>\n

Led by Bishop Mark Kariuki, the chairman of the Evangelical Churches of Kenya, the leaders said the health workers should consider calling off the strike to relieve pain and stop deaths of poor Kenyans.<\/p>\n

Bishop Kariuki, who spoke in Nakuru Thursday at Deliverance Church International, said it is wrong for the health issue to be politicised while Kenyans continue suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a strike like this, it\u2019s the poor Kenyans who suffer. The sad bit is whenever there\u2019s an issue like this, it becomes political with both political divides blaming each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The bishop added that, as religious leaders, they are ready to mediate between the health workers and government in reaching an agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a church, we have mediated during such matters in the past including the teachers\u2019 strike and a solution arrived at. We are ready (to intervene) but before negotiations commence, health workers should be in their work [places] to save lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The call comes five days after the health workers went on strike demanding pay increment, promotions and better working conditions among other demands.<\/p>\n

MASSIVE CORRUPTION<\/p>\n

The bishop pointed out at recent scandals at the Ministry of Health which he blamed for the suffering of Kenyans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen massive alleged corruption in the Ministry of Health and that money can be used to pay for doctors and nurses if well utilised,\u201d said Bishop Kariuki.<\/p>\n

He also warned Kenyans that corruption is evil and should be fought by all.<\/p>\n

The clergymen also called on leaders, both in the government and the opposition, to play a role in finding a solution to the stalemate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would urge the health workers to consider the value of life which is more than money. We understand their sacrifices and that they may not get (all) what are asking for but they should embrace whatever the government offers in order to save lives,\u201d said the church\u2019s national youth co-ordinator Rev Daniel Gichana.<\/p>\n

They were speaking during the third day of a five-day \u2018Raise your game\u2019 conference that attracted more than 1,500 youth from various parts of the country.<\/p>\n

The conference seeks to enlighten the youth on matters of academics, relationships and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

\"Bishop<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{Religious leaders have called on the striking health workers to return to work and save lives as they seek dialogue with the government.} Led by Bishop Mark Kariuki, the chairman of the Evangelical Churches of Kenya, the leaders said the health workers should consider calling off the strike to relieve pain and stop deaths of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[99],"byline":[2461],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-30939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-greatlakesnews","byline-daily-nation"],"bylines":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2461,"name":"Daily Nation","slug":"daily-nation","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30939"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=30939"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=30939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}