The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has issued a 30-day strike notice to the government.
The doctor’s union strike comes folowing what they term the government’s failure to honor their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
KMPDU secretary general Dr Davji Atellah in a press conference on Monday, December 19 stated that they signed a CBA with County and National governments in 2017 but has since been forgotten.
Contrary to that, the government has not promoted doctors, employed new medics, nor supplied medical equipment needed by doctors as agreed in the CBA.
“We see extreme shortage of doctors, there are no specialists. We have over five thousand doctors who have not been employed,” KMPDU noted.
In reaction to the government’s failure to act according to the CBA, the doctors have threatened to strike 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 the intent of industrial action, we have exhausted all the available avenues. An agreement that has been signed by the state has to be honored,” they said.
Likewise, KMPDU wants a Health Service Commission established within 100 days and that doctors under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme are employed on permanent and pensionable terms.
