The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has accused private hospitals of using foreign doctors as cheap labour and ignoring Kenyan professionals, therefore violating Kenyan labour laws.
In a press statement released on Thursday, January 8, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah accused some hospitals in the country of paying doctors' salaries below the rates set by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Atellah described the underpayment as modern-day slavery, noting that the move had locked several Kenyan practitioners out of a job. He said that in the last three years alone, over 3,000 foreign doctors had been licensed to practise in Kenya, not because of skill gaps but due to vulnerability.
“For far too long, the medical profession in Kenya has been treated as a frontier for profiteering, at the expense of human dignity, professional ethics, and lawful labour standards. Today, we declare unequivocally: the era of treating doctors as cheap, disposable labour is over,” he stated.
The statement followed Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale’s commitment to reduce the rate at which foreign doctors were hired in Kenya, giving priority to Kenyan professionals before considering foreigners, an act that the union supported unwaveringly.
Duale directed that Kenyan-trained health professionals will be prioritised for licensing and employment over foreign practitioners. He stated that, given the government’s significant investment in training doctors, nurses, clinical officers, and specialists, locally educated professionals should be given the first opportunity to serve the country.
He noted that this policy aligned with international best practices, which recommend prioritising the domestic health workforce, noting that no country had built a sustainable health system by mainly relying on a foreign workforce.
However, Duale clarified that the directive will not apply to citizens of East African Community (EAC) member states, reaffirming Kenya’s commitment to regional integration and mutual recognition agreements.
The Health CS added that foreign health practitioners will henceforth be vetted individually, primarily for highly specialised or emerging fields where local expertise is insufficient, a move that doctors welcomed.
KMPDU further highlighted the breach of Kenya’s immigration laws, which require that, before any professional is licensed to work in the country, there must be a gap and the necessary skill must not be locally available.
The union also expressed concerns about low payment rates to Kenyan practitioners against its guidelines. It therefore reminded all employers to follow the guidelines, warning of severe consequences in cases where they are found to be ignored.
Atellah further announced that the union would immediately commence an enforcement campaign nationwide to ensure that facilities complied with its guidelines in both private and public facilities, vowing to restore doctors’ dignity.
