Mombasa county doctors issue strike notice over unpaid dues

KMPDU Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah. [Fle, Standard]

Mombasa County doctors will down tools on March 3 unless the county government resolves a raft of labour grievances, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has warned.

The union issued a seven-day strike notice to County Secretary Jeizan Faruk, citing willful negligence over human resource obligations, contractual exploitation and political interference in the management of public health facilities.

The notice, signed by KMPDU Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah, names the interdiction of Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital (CGTRH) Chief Executive Officer Dr Iqbal Khandwalla as the most glaring trigger, an action the union says violated Article 47 of the Constitution and Section 41 of the Employment Act.

"What we are seeing is a blatant display of political interference and a total abandonment of the law," said Atellah.

The union says Khandwalla was neither issued a show-cause letter nor granted an opportunity to respond to allegations against him before being removed.

Beyond the Khandwalla affair, the notice catalogues five additional grievances.

Mombasa County is accused of breaching the 2021 Return-to-Work Formula (RTWF), a legally binding agreement.

A total of 28 doctors have been pending redesignation since suitability interviews held on July 15, 2022, while 45 consultants have since qualified but remain unrecognised within a staff establishment, the union says has not been updated in years.

Seventy-seven doctors, including approximately 10 outside CGTRH, remain on precarious contract terms with non-transparent pay arrangements, the union said.

At the same time, the county stands accused of illegally withholding statutory deductions, with at least five months of SACCO remittance arrears resulting in members being blacklisted by Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs).

Non-remittance has also caused defaulted loans and the lapse of insurance policies, the union noted.

"The County Government shall be held solely responsible for the paralysis of healthcare services and any subsequent loss of life or property resulting from this industrial action," noted Atellah.

KMPDU said that once the strike begins, doctors will limit services to emergency and life-saving care, with consultants' clinics and elective procedures suspended.