The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has issued a 30-day strike ultimatum to the Ministry of Health over the intern doctors wage crisis.
Led by Secretary General Davji Atellah, KMPDU announced the decision to call for another strike after the culmination of a town hall meeting with intern doctors at Ufungamano Hall.
“We are giving the government 30 days to solve this issue of payment and posting of medical interns. Otherwise, on March 18, 2025, we will start a series of weekly demonstrations,” Atellah remarked.
The looming strike comes after a video of Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa speaking at the Health Summit 2025 at Deputy President Kithure Kindiki's Karen residence on Monday, February 17, surfaced.
In the video, Barasa stated that the government will pay the new cohort of interns Ksh70,000, contrary to the Ksh206,000 agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of 2017.
“During our meeting in November/December, we talked about Ksh206,000, but for the new cohort we’re talking about Ksh70,000, and so negotiations will start to ensure that this is implemented,” the Health CS says in the video.
Barasa’s comments seemingly struck the wrong chord with Atellah who warned of dire consequences. This now seems set to pass with the union making good on their warning.
“Anytime you touch our salaries, you are inadvertently giving yourselves a strike notice as the government.CS Barasa, consider it served,” stated the KMPDU boss in a statement on X.
The latest notice comes after a tumultuous year for the health ministry that saw numerous strikes by KMPDU over the Ksh70,000 pay, almost bringing the health sector to a standstill.
In one of the extreme cases, the intern doctors staged an overnight vigil at the ministry’s headquarters at Afya House. Approximately 200 to 300 interns remained outside the offices carrying umbrellas, sleeping bags, carpets, speakers, and floodlights. This was despite adverse weather and police warnings.
More recently, KMPDU had threatened to down their tools in December 2024 but this was put off after reaching a compromise with the government.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on December 19, 2024, oversaw the signing of an agreement between doctors and the Ministry of Health that saw the nationwide strike initially set for December 22, 2024, effectively called off.
The agreement, which was also signed by the Council of Governors (CoG), was set to see intern doctors paid a salary of Ksh.206,000 in accordance with the 2017 CBA signed between the government and KMPDU.
