Government to post medical interns starting July 1 - Duale
Duale met with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Thursday, promising to address issues raised by doctors ahead of their planned April strike.
The government will post medical interns starting July 1, with plans underway to expand hosting facilities, according to the Health and Treasury ministries.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced that the ministries would also review salary arrears for the interns.
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Duale met with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) on Thursday, promising to address issues raised by doctors ahead of their planned April strike.
Duale assured the medical practitioners that the posting of doctors and interns would be completed by June and pledged to work with the national government, including the Treasury, on intern salaries and basic salary concerns.
“We want to commit to you, the leadership, and to the country that the posting of the internships will be done on the first of July. You have that commitment. The parties agreed that payment of outstanding salary arrears of the national government employees was to be effected in April 2025, and we are going to do it, we have committed. We are in April, and we will do it,” Duale said.
KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah highlighted that the meeting was a crucial opportunity to engage with the minister before resorting to a strike. He emphasised that the union prefers dialogue over industrial action.
“The meeting was quite important because it was either to meet the minister before the strike or to go on the strike and meet the minister. But as a union, we believe in dialogue, and before we take any actions, we have to always exploit all the available mechanisms for addressing the issues,” he said.
Doctors, including those in Kakamega County, recently issued a 14-day strike notice, threatening to down tools from April 18, 2025, if the county government fails to address a range of unresolved grievances.
These include the failure to promote doctors who have met the required conditions, lack of a comprehensive health insurance cover and a critical shortage of medical personnel.
In a letter dated April 4, 2025, KMPDU informed County Secretary Lawrence Omuhaka that their members had unanimously resolved to withdraw labour due to what they described as “persistent injustices perpetrated by the Kakamega County Government.”
“This matter was referred to the Ministry of Labour, and further arbitration at the Kakamega Labour Office did not yield a resolution,” Atellah said in the letter, citing a Certificate of Unresolved Dispute issued earlier this year.
He highlighted some of the key concerns fueling the strike, such as the lack of a comprehensive medical cover for doctors.
“Doctors continue to work without a comprehensive medical cover, jeopardising their well-being,” he said, stressing the irony of healthcare workers lacking access to the very service they provide.
The union also criticised Kakamega County for failing to hire more doctors, even as the health sector faces increasing strain due to understaffing.
“The severe staff shortage has compromised healthcare service delivery, yet the county has failed to recruit additional personnel,” Atellah added.
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The union warned that unless swift action is taken by the county, the strike will commence on April 18.
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