The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has intensified its push for improved welfare for doctors, placing a 30% salary increment at the centre of negotiations under the proposed 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The proposal reflects the Union’s broader agenda to secure fair compensation, strengthen job security, and improve working conditions for doctors across Kenya.
Speaking during the KMPDU Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) held at the Safari Park Hotel, KMPDU Secretary General Dr Davji Bhimji Atellah underscored the urgency of reviewing doctors’ salaries, noting that the last substantive salary adjustment was implemented in 2017, despite the sharp rise in inflation and the cost of living over the years. According to the Union, the proposed increment is not only justified but necessary to preserve the dignity, motivation, and retention of healthcare professionals in an increasingly demanding working environment.
At the heart of the Union’s position is a simple reality: healthcare workers cannot continue carrying the weight of a strained health system while their welfare stagnates. Doctors have remained at the frontline through industrial disputes, public health emergencies, staffing shortages, and expanding service demands, often without corresponding improvements in remuneration or working conditions. KMPDU maintains that investing in doctors is ultimately an investment in stronger patient outcomes and a more resilient healthcare system.
Beyond salary adjustments, the proposed 2025–2029 CBA seeks to secure reforms touching every stage of a doctor’s professional journey — from internship to specialist consultancy. Among the priorities being advanced by the Union are automatic employment pathways for graduating doctors, improved and comprehensive medical insurance cover for county-employed doctors, better staffing structures, and stronger protections for career progression and welfare.
KMPDU has also reiterated concerns over delays and barriers that have historically frustrated implementation of fair remuneration frameworks, particularly where economic realities have significantly shifted. The Union insists that healthcare workers must not continue to absorb the burden of inflation while remaining on wage structures negotiated nearly a decade ago.
The call for improved salaries is therefore not an isolated demand, it is part of a broader effort to strengthen healthcare delivery through a supported, motivated, and adequately protected workforce. As negotiations progress, KMPDU remains committed to pursuing solutions through structured engagement while firmly safeguarding the dignity and welfare of the medical profession.
A stronger health system begins with valued healthcare workers.
When doctors thrive, patients benefit.
In solidarity.
