Kenya’s medical sector is teetering on the brink of another nationwide strike after the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) formally issued a 90-day ultimatum to the government, demanding a 55 percent salary adjustment and immediate settlement of outstanding arrears.
The ultimatum, delivered during the union’s 10th Annual Delegates Conference at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi on May 10, 2026, sets a tight timeline for the government to act. If negotiations are not concluded within three months — and salary adjustments reflected in payslips within 21 days thereafter — the union has warned it will initiate immediate contempt of court proceedings and a full-scale industrial strike.
We are demanding a 55 percent salary increase based on the 10-year inflation period. Negotiations must be concluded within 90 days, or we move straight into nationwide industrial action, said KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah. The figures are stark: Kenyan doctors have not received a salary review since 2017, when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed. Over that decade, cumulative inflation has averaged 5.88 percent annually, with April 2026 alone recording a 5.6 percent inflation rate — up sharply from 4.4 percent in March.
The union’s demands extend well beyond wages. KMPDU is also pushing for full medical insurance coverage for all doctors employed under both the national and county governments, the immediate clearance of all outstanding dues owed by the Ministry of Health, and the recruitment of at least 3,000 doctors annually with automatic absorption of medical interns into permanent and pensionable terms. The union further wants the repeal of Section 5A of the Universities Act, which it argues undermines medical training standards by giving the Commission for University Education final authority over academic programmes.
Central to the dispute is the Collective Bargaining Agreement for 2025–2029, which the union says should reflect a salary adjustment aligned to a decade of rising costs. The government has 21 days to reflect basic salary adjustments in our payslips. Failure to do so will trigger immediate contempt of court applications and a strike, Atellah warned.
Beyond salary issues, the union also raised alarms over the settlement of 2024/2025 arrears, citing existing court rulings that have gone unimplemented. We expect compliance with court rulings on arrears. These obligations cannot remain outstanding indefinitely, the union said in a statement.
The timing of the ultimatum is significant. Kenya’s public health system is still recovering from years of disruptive strikes, and another walkout would further strain facilities already stretched thin by population growth and resource constraints. The union says it has exhausted all other avenues for resolution and that the ultimatum represents the only remaining tool to compel government action.
The government, for its part, has yet to formally respond to the demands. Observers say the next three months will be critical, with both sides under pressure to find common ground before the deadline expires — or risk plunging Kenya’s health sector into yet another destabilising confrontation.