The health sector in Kiambu County is headed for a major crisis after a doctors' union directed its members to discharge or refer all patients ahead of a strike set to start on Monday.
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) said it has decided to go on strike after the county government of Kiambu ignored the grievances.
Among other things, the doctors are demanding promotions, salary increments and employment of intern doctors permanently. The medics are also calling for better working conditions.
In a statement on Friday, May 23, KMPDU secretary-general Davji Bhimji Atellah said they decided to call a strike in Kiambu after the county government refused to get to the negotiating table with them to find solutions to the issues they have raised.
“On May 26, 2025, Kiambu doctors will down their tools in what will be the strike of our lives. We call on all our members to begin discharging and referring patients. The time for waiting is over,” Dr Atellah said in a statement.
Among other concerns, the union said, doctors in the county have not been able to access medical care under the national insurance medical scheme in the past month due to non-remittance of statutory deductions to the Social Health Authority (SHA).
KMPDU is also demanding the employment of more doctors in Kiambu, especially in major hospitals such as the Thika Level Five. Atellah said lack of enough doctors has crippled the facilitys' ability to dispense quality healthcare to the residents of the county.
He explained that doctors have already waited for 21 days and issued a notice, but the county government has remained silent.
He said there have been no meetings, no talks, and no sign of solving the crisis.The union says the strike will go on until the county government listens and acts.
“This is not just a strike; it is a reclaiming of our dignity, our and the future of healthcare in this country. We will not negotiate through silence. We will not accept being treated as expendable,” he said.
The doctors' strikes have been recurring countrywide, in the latest incident, on March 12, after KMPDU officials led by Attelah called on the nationwide demonstrations.
In their demonstrations, the doctors demanded a hike in their salaries as part of the fulfilment of the 2017 collective bargaining agreement.
However, interns' payment terms remain a contested matter despite the two teams signing a return-to-work formula.
