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Health Cabinet Secretary Dr Cleopa Mailu has revealed that the only way to honour the doctors' demands is to exclude them from the category of civil servants.
The CS said the doctors demands contained in the contentious Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are not in line with requirements of civil service hence Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) cannot permit the implementation.
This unless they cease to be civil servants and are awarded a different structure of salaries.
CS Mailu further faulted the signing of the CBA arguing that it was wrong for counties to be ignored.
The CBA was signed by then Health Permanent Secretary Mark Bor in June 27, 2013 and was supposed to take effect as from July 1 the same year.
"Health services were devolved In February-four months before the agreement was signed-and a gazette notice done to the effect. This shows there was a mistake that we now have to rectify it," said Mailu.
Mailu said during the three years transition period from central to devolved government all issues health should have and have been put under the counties.
The only mandate that the national government has on the current impasse is on some 300 doctors attached to the ministry of health, the national spinal cord hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral and Mathare Mental hospital.
"So no one should claim that doctors were seconded or not employed by the county government. Their salaries come from the counties, not national government," said Mailu.
The CS argued that from the CBA, there is nothing new doctors are demanding apart from an upgraded salary scale.
For example, what doctors were given as car and mortgage loans of a minimum and maximum of Sh5 million and Sh20 million respectively is exactly what is in a circular by SRC dated December 17, 2014 that awarded all public servants in the civil service the same benefits.
"The issue with doctors is that they do not want to be categorized as civil servants. And that is what we have offered them some allowances and have asked for 60 days to discuss the matter before we take it to court for direction. That is not asking for so much," said Mailu.
At the moment, doctors are already earning more than civil servants in the same job group whereas the lowest paid is entitled to a maximum of Sh149, 000 a civil servant gets Sh77, 000.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) also dismissed a 40 per cent pay increase arguing that it had effect on their basic salaries (it covered only allowances).
"The alleged 40 per cent pay increase leaves out majority of the doctors. Also the emergency call allowance-increased from Sh30, 000 to Sh66,000-is only applicable to 20 per cent of the doctors," said KMPDU Secretary General Dr Ouma Oluga.
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