Court blocks Kiambu County from hiring new doctors as strike enters day 79

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has barred the Kiambu County government from recruiting new medical specialists until an ongoing industrial dispute with doctors is resolved.

In interim orders issued on August 14, 2025, Justice Njagi Marete restrained the county and its “ servants, employees and or agents from shortlisting, and or recruiting or appointing candidates for the position of Medical Specialist I Job group CPSB 04 Job group pending hearing and determination of this application.”

The judge further directed the county to “indulge in industrial cause and pursue close these alleged unfair labour practices if at all and sit and negotiate these heinous practices with a view to restoring good order at the workplace.”

The court granted the county 14 days to respond to the application and set the inter-partes hearing for August 28, 2025.

The case was filed by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) after the county government advertised 78 consultant positions in Job Group Q on August 8, 2025.

“This strike was necessitated by deep-seated injustices, including a lack of promotions, delayed salaries, and doctors being overworked, underpaid, and denied leave, medical insurance, and the remittance of statutory deductions,” KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah said in a statement.

He described the recruitment drive as “a show of hostility” and “a mischievous and malicious attitude toward the doctors currently working,” adding that the union would fight the dispute “in the courtrooms, the newsrooms, the boardrooms, and on the streets.”

This comes even after KMPDU officials on Wednesday met Kiambu County MPs, led by National Assembly Majority Leader, to discuss what they described as a healthcare system “on the brink of total collapse.”

In the closed-door meeting, the union presented what it called “the full picture” — hospitals without essential medicines, overworked staff, and neglected facilities — and voiced deep frustration with the Kiambu County government.

“We made it clear: urgent intervention is not optional, it is a matter of life and death,” Dr. Atellah said in a statement, adding that the strike, now on its 79th day, had not been called lightly.

Dr. Atellah accused the county leadership of ignoring court orders, disregarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and “gambling with the lives of Kiambu residents.”

The KMPDU boss announced that the union would next week embark on a series of demonstrations to amplify its demands.

“Our strike is not just about salaries or promotions, it is about the right of every Kiambu resident to access quality, timely, and dignified healthcare… We will not return to work until every single issue is addressed and an end to victimization and intimidation of healthcare workers,” he stated.

According to the union, the industrial action is a fight not only for doctors’ welfare but for “the future of healthcare in Kiambu and across Kenya.”