As senior government officers and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) officials entered the negotiations room at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Thursday afternoon, there was unspoken tension in the air.
The representatives of both parties settled into their seats, facing each other with expressions that betrayed their inner turmoil.
It was clear: these two sides, brought together by duty yet divided by a chasm of diverging interests, inhabited worlds apart.
As the clock ticked towards 5:30 pm on Thursday, Chief of Staff Felix Koskei entered the room. All eyes turned towards him, hoping that he could end the eight-day strike that had left many patients without care.
Other parties attending the talks as ordered by the court were Cabinet Secretaries Njuguna Ndung’u (Treasury), Moses Kuria (Public Service), Florence Bore (Labour and Social Protection) and representatives of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Council of Governors.
