The Kiambu County Government has accused the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) of fueling the health crisis in the county while blocking efforts to resolve it.
Dr Patrick Nyagah, the county’s Chief Officer for Health Services, claimed on Spice FM on Friday, October 3, that KMPDU was leveraging ties with unnamed officials at the Ministry of Health to gain an upper hand in a dispute now in its fourth month.
Nyagah said the ministry’s decision to redeploy medical interns from Kiambu was meant to worsen the crisis rather than ease it.
“It is a concern that KMPDU would pick and escalate a dispute out of context and get support for it. There is a nest [for KMPDU] in the ministry. Look at the past officials of the union and the current officials in the Ministry, they are the common people,” said Nyagah.
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“The procedure of withdrawing interns requires an assessment of the centre and a complaint from an intern or someone else. No assessment has been done in Kiambu for two years by the councils for nurses, doctors, and clinical officers…The people who released the letters are powerful, but they have not followed the procedural steps,” he added.
His remarks drew an immediate rebuttal from KMPDU Central Region Secretary Dr Bill Muriuki, who said the redeployment was necessary to protect patients.
“It is a crime for interns to treat patients because they lack the experience. The Ministry did not withdraw interns to punish Kiambu. It was done to protect lives and to help interns get better training,” Muriuki stated.
He added that striking doctors were bound by minimum service protocols to reduce the risk of deaths during the strike, which has left hospitals in the county struggling.
Doctors in Kiambu are demanding timely salaries, fair promotions, competitive pay, and settlement of unpaid statutory deductions. They also complain of being overworked while underpaid.
In a statement on Friday, former Chief Justice David Maraga also criticised both the county and national governments for failing to end the strike.
“It is unconscionable that on the 127th day of the Kiambu doctors’ strike, at least 136 newborns have lost their lives in our public hospitals. Let that sink in,” read part of the statement from Maraga’s 2027 campaign secretariat.
KMPDU has threatened to escalate the Kiambu strike into a nationwide action if the demands are not met.
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The Kiambu County Government has accused the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) of fueling the health crisis in the county while blocking efforts to resolve it.
Dr Patrick Nyagah, the county’s Chief Officer for Health Services, claimed on Spice FM on Friday, October 3, that KMPDU was leveraging ties with unnamed officials at the Ministry of Health to gain an upper hand in a dispute now in its fourth month.
Nyagah said the ministry’s decision to redeploy medical interns from Kiambu was meant to worsen the crisis rather than ease it.
“It is a concern that KMPDU would pick and escalate a dispute out of context and get support for it. There is a nest [for KMPDU] in the ministry. Look at the past officials of the union and the current officials in the Ministry, they are the common people,” said Nyagah.
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“The procedure of withdrawing interns requires an assessment of the centre and a complaint from an intern or someone else. No assessment has been done in Kiambu for two years by the councils for nurses, doctors, and clinical officers…The people who released the letters are powerful, but they have not followed the procedural steps,” he added.
His remarks drew an immediate rebuttal from KMPDU Central Region Secretary Dr Bill Muriuki, who said the redeployment was necessary to protect patients.
“It is a crime for interns to treat patients because they lack the experience. The Ministry did not withdraw interns to punish Kiambu. It was done to protect lives and to help interns get better training,” Muriuki stated.
He added that striking doctors were bound by minimum service protocols to reduce the risk of deaths during the strike, which has left hospitals in the county struggling.
Doctors in Kiambu are demanding timely salaries, fair promotions, competitive pay, and settlement of unpaid statutory deductions. They also complain of being overworked while underpaid.
In a statement on Friday, former Chief Justice David Maraga also criticised both the county and national governments for failing to end the strike.
“It is unconscionable that on the 127th day of the Kiambu doctors’ strike, at least 136 newborns have lost their lives in our public hospitals. Let that sink in,” read part of the statement from Maraga’s 2027 campaign secretariat.
KMPDU has threatened to escalate the Kiambu strike into a nationwide action if the demands are not met.
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By Denis Omondi