Medical services in Kiambu County are likely to resume after the County Government agreed to settle doctors with their salaries in arrears, marking the end of a four-month crippling strike at hospitals.
The deal resulted from a consultative session convened by the Council of Governors (CoG) aimed at calming the standoff between the county and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU).
The county, in a statement delivered by CoG Whip Muthomi Njuki, committed to paying the doctors one month’s salary on top of their salary for October, and the remaining three months’ arrears will be covered in the 2026/2027 budget.
In addition, the County Government pledged to return to deducting and remitting union dues, with any pending amounts payable under the Return-to-Work formula agreed upon.
The meeting also agreed that none of the doctors who participated in the strike shall be victimized or disciplined one of the union’s critical demands throughout the negotiation.
“Let us remind the physicians of their noblest call, which is to protect and preserve life,” the CoG statement stated. “We urge all physicians in Kiambu to accept the spirit of goodwill exhibited by the County Government and for KMPDU to call off the strike.”
The statement reaffirmed the CoG’s readiness to promote physicians’ welfare, noting that continued negotiation was the best way to resolve issues in the healthcare sector.
KMPDU has for months been accusing the administration of Governor Kimani Wamatangi of breaching a return-to-work agreement entered last year and overlooking residents hit by the long health crisis.
With this new deal, both parties are optimistic that hospitals in Kiambu will finally open their doors relieving thousands of patients who have had to go without vital care for weeks.
