CLINICAL officers have vowed to down their tools on Thursday if government fails to heed their call to register their union. They are the latest entrants into this demand for a union with their nursing counterparts still on strike.

Speaking yesterday at a press briefing in Nairobi, chairman of the unregistered Union of Kenya Clinical Officers, George Gibore said the registrar was discriminating against health practitioners. "It is our constitutional right to belong to a union that will represent our interests," he said.

They have asked government to employ a further five thousand personnel to address the current shortage and pay a monthly stipend of Sh30,000 to interns. "We have been taken for granted, yet we are the backbone of the health sector," Gibore said.

Clinical officers had first issued a strike notice on December 1 and though their demands remain unmet, they are optimistic the government will respond to their demands and avert the looming strike.

Meanwhile, striking nurses, who are set to hold a demonstration today, have said they will continue with the strike until their grievances are met key among their demand is registration of the Kenya National Union of Nurses.

More than 1,000 nurses are expected to take part in today's demo, which the healthcare givers are saying, is meant to improve service delivery in the public sector.

Their nursing counterparts who have been on strike since last week are demanding the registration of the Kenya National Union of Nurses.

Secretary general of the unregistered union, Seth Panyako said the nurses were not issuing new demands rather were seeking for implementation of issues that had previously been discussed.