ODM party leader Raila Odinga has been bashed online for the second day Tuesday for remarks in response to doctors’ demands for better working conditions 

On Monday, while speaking in Kisumu, Odinga told the medics not to hold the government to ransom saying Covid-19 pandemic was affecting everyone.

“All I want to do is to appeal to our doctors to be more understanding. We are in a crisis at the moment, people are dying. It is not only doctors who are dying,” Odinga said.

He went on, “Ordinary Kenyans are also dying of Covid-19. We are also in a die-hard situation as far as the economy is concerned. This is not the time to hold the government to ransom.”

He then added salt to injury by telling healthcare workers in the frontline in fighting Coronavirus that they should remain true to their Hippocratic oath.

“The doctors themselves took an oath to protect lives, how then can you justify downing of tools when people are dying?” the former Prime Minister asked.

Kenyans on social media were not amused by the remarks, telling off Odinga for being insensitive to the suffering and death of doctors and other health workers.

To make it worse, Odinga made the remarks only hours after Dr Stephen Mogusu, who was based in Machakos County, succumbed to Coronavirus complications.

Ironically, Odinga got a section of online users who backed his remarks.


On Monday Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMDU) suspended its strike by 14 days to allow for dialogue with the government on their grievances.

KMPDU has recently revealed that at least 763 clinical officers in public and private health facilities had contracted the deadly virus while in the line of duty.

The union said 3 doctors, 26 nurses and 9 clinical officers also died from Covid-19.