Postcard From... Nairobi

President’s son to lead military

Hundreds of Kenyan doctors protested in the streets yesterday, demanding better pay and working conditions in a nationwide strike that has entered its second week.

The doctors carried placards and chanted against the Kenyan government. They said it had failed to implement a raft of promises, including a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2017 after a 100-day strike during which people died from lack of care. The secretary-general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union, Dr Davji Bhimji, said the strike will continue until all demands are met. “We have nothing else to lose but the chains of poverty and distress,” he said.

The stand-off has left thousands of Kenyans without public health services.

Susan Nakhumicha, the health minister, said she had instructed two leading referral hospitals to recruit doctors to replace those on strike. Dr Bhimji said the hiring of new doctors would not settle underlying labour concerns. “Those doctors cannot run those hospitals because those terms are exploitative and demeaning,” he said. On Thursday, the doctors stopped providing hospital emergency services despite a court order calling for talks to be held.

Brian Inganga

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has appointed his son, as head of the military, the defence ministry said yesterday.

Muhoozi Kainerugaba, 48, an army general, is widely tipped to succeed his father and once threatened to invade neighbouring Kenya.

He replaces Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, who was removed and appointed as a junior minister.