After 151 grueling days that left public hospitals in crisis, the County Government of Kiambu and the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) have finally agreed to end the longest doctors’ strike in the county’s history. The walkout began on May 27, 2025, when about a third of Kiambu’s roughly 500 doctors downed their tools over unpaid salaries and withheld union dues, following the county’s failure to honor a Return-to-Work Formula signed on May 8, 2024.
The breakthrough came during a high-level consultative meeting at the Council of Governors headquarters, chaired by CoG Whip and Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki alongside Health Committee Chair and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sherrif Nassir. Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi and senior KMPDU representatives attended the session, where both sides hammered out a deal to restore stability to the county’s strained healthcare system.
Under the agreement, the county will immediately pay one month’s salary to all striking doctors, followed by a phased plan to clear the remaining arrears. KMPDU monthly deductions will resume, and the county has committed to recovering and remitting union dues withheld during the strike period, upon written confirmation from the union.
Throughout the five-month standoff, essential services at major facilities like Kiambu Level 5 and Thika Level 5 Hospital were severely compromised, with only emergency cases handled by skeletal staff and medical interns. With the deal now in place, doctors are expected to resume duties within 48 hours, pending final confirmation from KMPDU leadership.
The resolution brings relief to thousands of residents who endured long waits, referrals, and reduced care, while highlighting the urgent need for lasting solutions to labor disputes in Kenya’s devolved health sector.
