Embu County will promote 59 doctors as part of a raft of reforms in the county, following talks with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to avert a health crisis.
The breakthrough came after a consultative meeting between KMPDU and the county administration, led by Governor Cecily Mbarire, where all issues the medical practitioners raised in a November 17 notice were addressed.
Under the new agreement, 59 teachers will be promoted under the August 2024 promotion cycle, while the remaining 19 consultants will be promoted by January 15, 2026. The changes will effectively be reflected in the doctors' payslips.
The county also agreed to convert all 30 doctors who were serving on contract terms to permanent and pensionable employment, one of the main grievances raised by the union.
To address staff shortages, Mbarire also committed to hiring 20 more doctors on permanent and pensionable terms. 14 doctors will be recruited immediately, while six others will be hired by January 2026.
The agreement further provides for the full remittance of all outstanding statutory deductions after doctors cited poor labour practices and financial risk to health workers as another one of their grievances.
The latest deal brings an end to an impasse between the county government and the KMPDU, which has dragged on for weeks despite consistent talks between the two parties.
Prior to the agreement, the doctors had been on strike for more than two weeks, leading to accusations that the doctors were acting in bad faith.
Earlier, Embu County Secretary Ammy Ruria claimed that honouring promotion letters, which the doctors were demanding, would constitute a violation of human resource procedures and expose the county to audit challenges.
Health CECM Jamal Runyenjes had also claimed the industrial action was heavily linked to internal politics within the KMPDU.
For the better part of the year, KMPDU has been piling pressure on the government to honour an initial agreement to increase salaries for doctors nationwide.
The government has since committed to settling doctors' salary arrears dating back to 2017, in line with the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed eight years ago.
