Doctors in Kiambu County have received temporary reprieve after the Employment and Labour Relations Court prevented the county government from replacing them, pending the outcome of a petition challenging the hiring process.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, October 21, Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa issued conservatory orders preventing the Kiambu Chief Officer for Health and the County Public Service Board from proceeding with the recruitment of new doctors until the case is heard and decided.
The application is certified urgent and allowed in terms of prayers B and C of the Notice of Motion,” Justice Wasilwa ruled, adding that the matter will be heard inter partes on October 28, 2025.
The petition was brought forth by one of the affected doctors, who accused the county government of acting discriminately and in violation of labour laws in dismissing striking medics and rushing to employ replacements prior to the deadline for official applications expiring.
The county had started shortlisting and interviewing candidates before the October 15 deadline, a move she described as “opaque and illegal.” The court was told that the interviews were already underway when some of the doctors were still applying.
The drama began on May 28, when Kiambu County Executive Committee Member for Health, Elias Maina, made an announcement that some of the doctors who failed to report to work were being fired.
“We have started disciplinary proceedings against doctors who failed to report to work,” Maina said then. “A count is being conducted to identify those who skipped work, and they will be replaced immediately with equally qualified individuals.”
The medics, however, still maintain that the county acted in bad faith, arguing they were exercising their labour rights amidst a pay and working conditions row.
This is not the county’s first legal backlash in terms of replacement of workers. In August, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) obtained the same court orders suspending the hiring of 78 new medical consultants in Job Group Q, pending the determination of yet another industrial dispute.
With the new court order, replacement of striking doctors remains on hold pending the full hearing of the case later this month.