Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has vowed to fire doctors accused of neglecting duties and selling county drugs.
In what seems to be an escalating dispute among county governments and medics, the Kiambu boss has become the latest to issue threats to medics after his Mombasa counterpart Abdulswamad Sherrif Nassir.
Speaking during a public address in Limuru on Friday, January 10, Wamatangi threatened to terminate doctors and force legal action against them. “We will not do any more work in vain,” he vowed.
According to Wamatangi, the county residents are not receiving treatment as some doctors are abandoning their posts amid an agitation for a pay raise.
“I cannot allow a situation where a mother is awaiting delivery, and another is waiting for surgery, but the doctor is missing. The person supposed to do the job has taken their salary and disappeared,” stated the outspoken governor.
The governor further alleged the existence of a scheme to defraud the county of medicine intended to be provided to residents for free.
“I buy medicine all the time. If you go to the hospitals at night, you’ll find some Probox cars parked. When you inquire whether they work there, you’ll discover they are stealing medicine,” he revealed.
Doctors in Kiambu County have been embroiled in ongoing disputes with the county government, primarily over delayed salaries and poor working conditions.
In October 2024, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) announced that doctors in the county had suspended their services due to unpaid August and September salaries. The union accused the county government of breaching a return-to-work agreement established in May 2024.
Tensions escalated in November 2024 following the tragic death of an intern pharmacist, reportedly by suicide. KMPDU attributed the incident to financial hardships and issued stern warnings, including the threat of service withdrawal.
Medical services in public hospitals across the country were paralysed for nearly two months last year when doctors staged a nationwide strike. In December 2024, KMPDU issued a 21-day strike notice on 1 December, set to commence on 22 December, citing the government’s failure to address salary increments and improve working conditions for doctors.
The government averted the strike, agreeing to pay intern doctors Ksh206,000 as stipulated in their CBA.
