Nairobi, April 9 -- Stranded and abandoned patients, desperation and pain painted a grim picture in public hospitals as the strike by medics persisted across the country.

So dire is the situation that religious leaders have made an urgent appeal to the government to consider engaging the medics who have vowed not to resume duty until their demands for better salaries and conditions of service are met.

While President William Ruto has maintained that the government has no money to increase doctors' salaries, the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) has underlined the need to consider some of the issues raised by doctors and other medical practitioners.

For the fourth week now, access to healthcare in public hospitals has been ...