Kindiki Moves To Avert Doctors' Strike; Interns To Be Paid Ksh206,000
The agreement, which was also signed by the Council of Governors (CoG), will see intern doctors paid a salary of Ksh206,000 per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on Thursday evening, December 19 presided over the signing of an agreement between doctors and the Ministry of Health that effectively averts the nationwide strike initially planned for December 22, 2024.
The agreement, which was also signed by the Council of Governors (CoG), will see intern doctors paid a salary of Ksh206,000 per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed between the government and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) in 2017.
"The Government values the expertise, sacrifice and patriotic input of all our health workers across the Country. The health of every Kenyan citizen is a priority for the Kenya Kwanza Administration," Kindiki announced in a statement.
"We welcome the selfless decision of the doctors to call off the intended industrial action and their willingness to continue engagement with the National and County Governments in the spirit of collaboration, consensus building and good faith."
Doctors on strike outside Parliament Buildings and Bunge Tower on April 30, 2024. /MARVIN CHEGE.VIRAL TEA KE
KMPDU, led by Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah, also noted that it was agreed during the meeting that the basic salary arrears would be paid.
KMPDU earlier explained that the looming strike was aimed at compelling the State to implement the 2017 and 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) made between the union and the national and county governments.
“The picketing is intended to compel the Government to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreements dated 30th June 2017 and 6th July 2021 and the Return-To-Work-Formula (RTWF) documents dated 8th May 2024 made between the union, ministry of health, national government, national referral facilities; and the other one made between the union and the county governments signed by the Chair of Council of Governors, Chair Human Resource Labour and Social Welfare and the Chair Health Committee, Council of Governors,” stated Dr. Atellah on Saturday, December 14.
KMPDU had been putting pressure on the government to meet its commitments to the health workers threatening to begin a mega nationwide doctors’ strike on December 22, 2024.
The doctors had been protesting a range of issues, including poor working conditions, delayed salary payments and pay cuts, particularly for medical interns.
Speaking during a meeting with doctors in Kakamega County, Atellah revealed that despite signing a return-to-work formula, their needs were still being ignored, forcing them to go back to the streets after calling off the strike in May 2024.
"We addressed the disdain, dishonesty, and disrespect with which the employer continues to handle our concerns. Court orders remain unheeded, return-to-work formulas (RTWF) are ignored, and CBAs are violated and dismantled," Dr Atella revealed.
Were it not for the intervention, the looming strike would have crippled the country's health sector again and forced Kenyans to contend with the daunting challenge in terms of accessing medical services from December 22, going into the Christmas period without medical services.
