Clinical Officers have committed to providing services to protesters injured during the anti-Finance Bill demonstrations.
Speaking in Nairobi on Sunday, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) announced plans to deploy emergency teams to various protest locations across the country to offer medical care to those in need. KUCO national chairperson Peterson Wachira emphasized that this initiative aims to provide immediate assistance to the injured without causing further harm.
The union also condemned the shooting of Rex Masai during protests in Nairobi earlier this week, asserting that his life could have been saved if competent medical teams had been present at the scene. Additionally, KUCO has called on relevant agencies to ensure that the officer allegedly involved in the shooting is held accountable.
“From that, we have analysed the situation and we have realised that if we had competent medical staff on the ground, probably Rex would not have lost his life. And from that as a union we are going to coordinate and provide medical emergency teams,” Wachira said.
Wachira said the union had already sent teams during previous protests but realised the numbers were low.
“We are going to enhance and ensure that in every town we are going to have these protests, we are going to have teams that will be responding in real time to ensure people can be taken to hospital in a manner that does not cause more injury to them to be able to preserve life,” he said.
This comes even as their strike which started on April 1 entered day 84 on Sunday.
KUCO SG George Gibore said only one out of the 10 issues they had raised have so far been addressed.
He reaffirmed that their strike is still on until all the remaining issues of concern are addressed.
“Now that we are not in those hospitals we will be outside here giving services. We will use our own resources to give services to those people who will be injured including police so that then we don’t lose life in line of them exercising their constitutional right,” Gibore said.