KMPDU threatens nationwide strike over slashed interns' pay

The Ministry of Health will slash intern doctors' pay from Sh206,000 to Sh70,000 per month starting July this year, setting the stage for a fresh confrontation with medical practitioners.

Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa says the decision follows an advisory from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), affecting 1,247 medical interns scheduled for posting.

The announcement has prompted the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to issue a 30-day strike notice, with demonstrations planned from March 18, 2025.

"Payments for the current cohort of interns are being made as per the 2017 collective bargaining agreement. However, negotiations are ongoing to resolve the conflict between the SRC's advisory and the CBA, which provides for a stipend of Sh206,000 per month based on Job Group L," CS Barasa told the Nation on Thursday.

The CS cited a ruling by Lady Justice Maureen Onyango that upheld SRC's directive on the Sh70,000 stipend rate.

"The Public Finance Management Act prohibits any expenditure in excess of approved budgetary allocation. The only options available were either to take fewer interns or reduce the stipend," she explained.

According to the CS, SRC recommended reducing the stipend to accommodate all interns within the available budget rather than limiting the number of placements.

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However, KMPDU Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah accused the government of dishonesty.

"This is taking us one year backwards. There is no way we can negotiate on wages going back. This government has bastardised the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement that they are yet to fully implement," he said during a meeting with young doctors in Nairobi.

Dr Atellah revealed that the union has held four boardroom meetings this year discussing intern postings and hospital placements.

"It was very glaring for the CS to announce during the health summit that they are going to pay intern doctors Sh70,000," he said.

The pay cut announcement comes as the ministry grapples with financing challenges for critical healthcare programs. During last week's health summit at Deputy President Kindiki Kithure's residence, CS Barasa acknowledged funding difficulties in running life-saving programs such as HIV/AIDS and malaria initiatives, following funding cuts from the USA.

KMPDU plans to hold two demonstrations per week leading up to the March strike.

“The streets are now calling us once again because those interns that were getting Sh 40,000 in December last year are now getting a full salary, the doctors who had not been paid for seven years as per the CBA received 50 % of their pay with the other half scheduled to be paid this year by July and this means the actions, we take are giving outcomes that we can see,” the KMPDU SG added.

“We have been having engagements with the health ministry, we have had more than four boardroom meetings this year and, in those meetings, we were discussing when the interns will be posted, what hospitals have space and availability for them to be posted. These meetings have been chaired by directors of health and other junior officers at the health ministry and so it was very glaring for the CS for Health to say during the health summit that they are going to pay intern doctors Sh 70,000.”

In a related development, CS Barasa announced that 8,571 healthcare workers employed under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program in 2020 will have their contracts extended until May 2026.

The ministry faces a funding gap of Sh3.5 billion for the transition to permanent terms, with the total cost estimated at Sh7.7 billion annually. "The national and county governments are engaging on modalities to secure the shortfall and transition them to permanent and pensionable terms," she said.