KMPDU slams Governors over Kiambu health crisis, issues demands amid looming national strike

The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has sharply criticized the Council of Governors (CoG) for what it terms as an “indifferent and heartless” handling of the Kiambu health crisis, accusing the county bosses of trivializing the deaths of 131 newborns.

In a strongly worded statement, KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah said the union was “deeply shocked and outraged” by the CoG’s dismissal of the reports as “pure mischief” and “false publication.”

He described the statement, signed by CoG Chair Ahmed Abdullahi, as a grotesque display of indifference and a distortion of fact.

The union accused Governors of issuing press statements detached from the realities in Kiambu’s hospitals, where families continue to mourn their children.

It said the CoG’s defense of Kiambu’s health services as “functional” was a falsehood, insisting that the deaths, death certificates, and grieving parents spoke for themselves.

KMPDU linked the deaths to what it called systemic failure and negligence by county governments, saying the ongoing doctors’ strike in Kiambu was the result of “broken promises and blatant neglect.”

According to the union, for 131 days, patients have been left to suffer in deteriorating facilities marked by mismanagement and looting.

Dr. Atellah said the CoG’s response to the crisis exemplified the hypocrisy of leaders who enjoy premium private healthcare and can fly abroad for minor ailments, while ordinary citizens are left to perish in underfunded hospitals.

He described the Governors’ press statement as “an insult to the memory of the deceased and the suffering of their families.”

“How many more children must die before the County Government of Kiambu and the CoG act? Will it take a toll of 500 or a thousand for you to descend from your high towers and acknowledge the tears of mothers crying in the slums and villages of Kiambu?” Posed Dr. Atellah.

“Your collective response to this humanitarian crisis is one of supreme aloofness and unforgivable hypocrisy. The 47 Governors who comprise the CoG are well-known to enjoy the privileges of premium private healthcare and the liberty to freely fly out of the country for cuts and minor bruises, while the citizens you are sworn to protect are left to perish from birth.”

The union demanded four immediate actions: a public apology from the CoG, urgent engagement with KMPDU to resolve the crisis, an independent investigation into the neonatal deaths, and the dissolution of the Kiambu County Government for gross failure and negligence.

KMPDU further called on President William Ruto to take action, warning that doctors nationwide would not remain silent as county leaders defend impunity and deny reality.

“The President must dissolve the Kiambu County Government for gross failure and criminal negligence in managing the county's health sector. The Governors must remember that their mandate is to serve not to preside over preventable deaths and then use their offices to deny reality,” said the doctors’ union boss.

“Based on your collective action to perpetuate injustice and defend impunity, the Kenyan doctors too will take collective action in solidarity with their Kiambu colleagues through the issuance of a National Strike Notice on 25th October 2025 to protect the dignity of the medical profession and to defend the sanctity of life and healthcare in Kenya.”