The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has officially called off the 151-day doctors’ strike in Kiambu County following a return-to-work agreement mediated by the Council of Governors (CoG).
The deal, announced on Friday afternoon at the CoG headquarters in Westlands, brings to an end one of the longest county-level industrial actions in Kenya’s health sector history — a strike that had severely disrupted public hospital operations and drawn nationwide concern.
Terms of the deal
Under the agreement, the County Government of Kiambu will immediately pay doctors their October salaries and one month of withheld arrears upon resuming duty.
The remaining three months’ arrears will be settled in the 2026/2027 financial year, beginning July 1, 2026.
The county has also committed to reinstate the deduction and remittance of union dues and to ensure no victimization of health workers who participated in the industrial action.
“It was agreed that there shall be no victimization whatsoever by the employer to the members who took part in the ongoing strike,” a joint statement read.
Mediated settlement
The truce followed a high-stakes consultative meeting chaired by Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, the CoG Whip, and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, who chairs the CoG Health Committee.
Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi and KMPDU Secretary-General Dr. Davji Atellah led their respective delegations during the negotiations.
Governor Wamatangi welcomed the resolution, saying his administration remained committed to fully implementing the agreement and restoring normalcy across Kiambu’s health facilities.
He noted that during the strike, the county had moved to stabilize service delivery by hiring 90 doctors and 200 nurses to ease the crisis.
Doctors begin strike
The prolonged strike had paralyzed health services across Kiambu’s public hospitals, reportedly leading to strained emergency units and public outrage over alleged preventable deaths, including claims of 131 infant fatalities.
The standoff escalated into a national concern after KMPDU accused the county of breaching labor laws, failing to remit insurance premiums, and ignoring court-directed conciliation efforts.
The union had even petitioned Parliament on October 14, seeking legislative intervention, and threatened to launch a nationwide strike on October 25 if the deadlock persisted.
Call for dialogue
Governors Njuki and Nassir lauded both sides for embracing dialogue, urging other counties facing similar disputes to prioritize negotiation over confrontation.
“We call upon County Governments and the Union to embrace dialogue to ensure that contentious issues are resolved promptly so that service delivery in the health sector is uninterrupted,” the CoG said in a statement.
Dr. Atellah, while confirming the official end of the strike, directed all Kiambu doctors to report back to work by 8:00 a.m. on Monday.
“We’ve resolved today that the monies for June will be paid alongside October salaries, while the outstanding salaries for July, August, and September will be cleared in the next financial year,” he said.
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