The government and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Monday, October 26, opened negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering doctors for the 2025-2029 period, with the union saying it wants the deal concluded by the end of December 2026.

The inaugural round of the national talks is being held in Mombasa on October 26 and 27. The meeting was convened by an inter-ministerial negotiating committee set up under Mary Muthoni Muriuki, the Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, who invited KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah in a letter dated October 13, Capital FM reported.

Counter-proposal on the table

According to the union, the Ministry of Health has already responded to KMPDU's comprehensive CBA proposal with a counter-proposal, which Capital FM reported was sent in a letter dated August 4, 2026. The union described the exchange as progress towards formal bargaining, although neither side has made public the specific pay figures or terms under discussion.

Atellah said a joint meeting of the union's National Advisory Council and National Executive Council on October 16 had resolved to shift its approach.

The union, Atellah said, had resolved to "transition from agitation to structured dialogue", and was entering the talks "organized, legally anchored, and unified across both national and county levels."

Centralised talks for county doctors

Because most doctors in public service are employed by the 47 county governments, KMPDU has pushed for a single negotiating table for counties instead of 47 separate processes. The union said the Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) had agreed to centralised talks covering all counties.

Capital FM reported that the county-level negotiations are scheduled to begin on October 29 and 30, and that KMPDU has nominated a 12-member team led by senior National Executive Council officials to handle them. The union said running the national and county talks in parallel would allow a coordinated approach to improving terms of service for doctors at both levels of government.

The union's negotiating committee has been mandated to handle both the Ministry of Health and county CBAs, with the end of December set as the target for concluding both.

Shadow of past disputes

KMPDU said its approach had been shaped by the bitter fight over the 2017-2021 CBA, which it described as a period marked by prolonged disputes over pay, working conditions and implementation of agreed terms. Disagreements over that agreement fuelled a 56-day national doctors' strike in 2024 that paralysed services in public hospitals.

The talks open at a sensitive time for the health sector. Public health officers only suspended a 94-day strike on Sunday, and the country is in the middle of an Ebola response in which doctors, clinicians and nurses are on the front line. Health CS Aden Duale has said representatives of clinicians and nurses have now been included on the multi-sectoral task force overseeing that response.

The union has not issued a fresh strike notice, but it remains locked in separate disputes with some counties. The pace of the Mombasa round and the county talks starting later this week will determine whether the December target is realistic.

Neither the Ministry of Health nor the Council of Governors had issued a public statement on the outcome of the first day of talks by the time of publication.

Photos: Capital FM