KMPDU officials after holding talks with KUTRRH CEO Dr Zeinab Gura and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to push for the fast-tracking and signing of outstanding CBAs, October 24, 2026. /KMPDU

Doctors have shifted from agitation to structured negotiations with the national and county governments in a fresh push to secure better terms of service for doctors.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has set December 2026 as its target for concluding the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), with negotiations with the Ministry of Health scheduled to begin on Monday, October 26, and county-level talks expected to start later in the week.

The change in strategy follows a joint meeting of the union’s National Advisory Council (NAC) and National Executive Council (NEC) on October 16, at which the leadership resolved to prioritise dialogue in securing a new pay and working conditions agreement.

KMPDU secretary general Davji Atellah said the union was entering the negotiations with greater preparation, a unified leadership and a clear mandate to secure an agreement covering their employment by both levels of government.

“Unlike the prolonged uncertainties of the past, we are stepping into these negotiation rooms organised, legally anchored and unified across both national and county levels. The lessons of the 2017–2021 cycle have taught us vigilance, preparedness and the absolute power of solidarity,” Atellah said in a letter addressed to doctors.

He said the union was determined to secure better terms of service, protect doctors’ welfare and improve their working environment through the ongoing negotiations.

The shift comes more than two years after the last major nationwide doctors’ strike ended in May 2024, following 56 days of industrial action marked by street demonstrations, confrontations with police and prolonged negotiations with the government.

The strike was driven by grievances including delayed posting of medical interns, proposed salary cuts for interns, failure to implement salary arrears under the 2017–2021 CBA and inadequate comprehensive health insurance.

A return-to-work agreement was signed on May 8, 2024, bringing the prolonged dispute to an end.

The new negotiations will test whether the union and the two levels of government can resolve longstanding disputes through the bargaining process before relations deteriorate into another confrontation.

Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni said the ministry has constituted an Inter-Ministerial CBA Negotiation Committee to negotiate the 2025–2029 agreement with KMPDU.

In a letter dated October 13, Muthoni invited the union to an inaugural meeting scheduled for October 26 and 27 at Mombasa Beach Hotel.

The invitation followed the ministry's submission of a counter-proposal to the union’s CBA proposals in a letter dated August 4, 2026.

The committee is expected to engage the union on the outstanding terms and conditions of service as negotiations get under way.

KMPDU’s National Advisory Council has authorised a team of 12 to handle both the national and county government CBAs.

Atellah said the union was approaching the process with a firm deadline and a determination, drawing from previous bargaining cycle characterised by uncertainties.

Besides the engagements with the ministry, KMPDU has seperately secured the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) agreement to conduct centralised CBA negotiations covering all county governments.

The arrangement follows the union’s request to negotiate through a single process rather than pursue separate bargaining engagements with individual county administrations.

In a letter dated September 1 7 and addressed to CoG CEO Mary Mwiti, Atellah formally submitted a list of 12 nominees to represent doctors in the negotiations, with talks expected to begin on October 29 and 30.

The centralised arrangement provides a common negotiating platform for the union and county governments, potentially reducing the need for separate engagements across the 47 counties.

It also places the CoG and SRC at the centre of a process expected to address doctors’ employment terms at the county level.

KMPDU said its negotiating teams had been mandated to pursue the new agreements with a clear focus on doctors’ welfare, remuneration and working conditions.

The decision to adopt structured negotiations marks a significant moment for a union whose disputes with the government have previously escalated into prolonged industrial action.

The 56-day strike that ended in May 2024 exposed the difficulties of resolving doctors’ grievances using industrial action, underscoring the importance of translating any new agreement into actual improvements in doctors’ terms of service.

Atellah urged members to remain united behind the union’s negotiating teams as the discussions begin.

“This is our moment to secure better terms of service, protect our welfare and guarantee a dignified working environment that reflects the true value of medical professionals in Kenya,” he said.

He maintained that the union would remain vigilant throughout the process, signalling that the move towards dialogue does not amount to abandoning its demands.

“Our health, our rights and our future are non-negotiable,” Atellah said.

The coming weeks will provide an early indication of whether the two sides can make progress towards the union’s December deadline, while avoiding a repeat of the confrontations that defined the previous CBA dispute.