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KMPDU directs interns to reject posting letters amidst pay dispute

Striking Kenyan doctors shout slogans and hold placards outside a Nairobi court, January 26, 2017, while waiting for their union officials to come out. (Photo: AFP)

By Lucy Mumbi | 04 Apr 2024

Koskei urged all eligible medical student interns to collect their posting letters from the Ministry of Health's offices with effect from April 4, 2024.

The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union (KMPDU) has instructed interns not to collect their internship letters as directed by the government.

On Tuesday, Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei urged all eligible medical student interns to collect their posting letters from the Ministry of Health's offices with effect from April 4, 2024.

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He said requisite budget support of Sh2.4 billion has been allocated for the immediate deployment and posting of the 2023/24 cohort of medical student interns.

However, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah on Thursday directed all interns not to accept or pick up the letters until the government honours the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) as outlined in the strike notice.

“The issue of interns cannot be negotiated... It is a basic principle that every element of a doctor must be respected. Therefore, they will not pick those letters until the government realises there is a need to honour that bargaining agreement,” he said.

Atellah said the money the government claimed to have released for doctor interns was meant for all the medical interns.

He reiterated that the Sh45,000 to Sh70,000 monthly gross pay that the government wants to give the intern doctors is much less than the Sh150,000 monthly net pay the union is demanding.

"This was impunity of the highest order. You cannot purport to have released Sh2.4 billion for the intern doctors, yet you have reduced their salaries by 91 per cent. We will not entertain this," he said.

Additionally, he criticised the government for referring to interns as 'medical student interns' highlighting the crucial role they play in the health sector.

“Referring to them as 'medical student interns' is misleading to the public, and belies the pivotal role these illustrious employees perform in the health sector. Contravening the CBA and subjecting our healthcare workers to a 70-91 per cent pay cut is unlawful, punitive, and a gross violation of global, regional, and national labour laws,” Atellah said.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Health has warned medical interns who fail to collect offer letters, saying they could risk missing out on placement in government-run hospitals by June.

Speaking in Kisumu on Thursday, Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni said the Ministry will be forced to return the Sh2.4 billion allocated for the placement of medical interns if it fails to absorb the interns.

“The government has gone ahead to release the money which, if it gets to June, will go back to the Treasury. So who loses?” she posed.

In regard, doctors have maintained that the strike, which is in its third week, will persist until the government acknowledges its responsibility to ensure Kenyans have access to healthcare.