Kenyan Doctors Issue a 30-Day Strike Notice

Kenyan doctors have issued a 30-day strike notice citing the government’s failure to honor their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). 

Addressing the media on Monday, Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah said the CBA medics signed with county and national governments in 2017 was yet to be implemented.

The union also said the government has not promoted doctors, employed new medics, nor supplied medical equipment required by doctors as agreed in the CBA. 

“We see extreme shortage of doctors, there are no specialists. We have over 5000 doctors who have not been employed,” Atellah said.

Consequently, the doctors said they will down their tools in January 2023 if their concerns are not addressed immediately. 

“We have written letters trying to have actions from National and County governments. By the time we have given notice of intend of industrial action, we have exhausted all the available avenues. An agreement that has been signed by the state has to be honored,” the union said.

KMPDU is demanding that a Health Service Commission is established within 100 days and that doctors under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program are employed on permanent and pensionable terms.