KMPDU declares total shutdown in Kiambu as doctors' strike enters day 60

Medical services in Kiambu County are set to grind to a complete halt on Thursday as doctors, led by their union, announced a major shutdown and protest march in a standoff now entering its 60th day.

In a strongly-worded statement on Wednesday evening, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah declared that healthcare workers will assemble at 10am at the Kiambu Level V Hospital before marching to the County Assembly and then the Governor’s office.

The protest, Dr. Atellah said, is not merely about wages and working conditions, but a fight to restore life, dignity, and justice to a county whose health system he says is on its knees.

“The situation is dire: Hospitals without doctors. Patients without drugs. Caregivers under threat. Leaders without a plan,” Dr. Atellah stated.

“No healthcare worker should be forced to choose between their oath and their safety. No patient should die waiting in abandoned wards.”

The union accuses the Kiambu County government of inaction, high-handedness, and silence even as the crisis deepens.

The KMPDU boss alleges that instead of engaging meaningfully to end the impasse, the county leadership has opted to scapegoat healthcare workers and “weaponize public suffering.”

The medics’ planned procession is expected to cause a major stir, with the union warning that failure to resolve the crisis could spiral into a nationwide industrial action.

“We will not negotiate with silence. We will not retreat from our duty to protect life,” Dr. Atellah added.

In a pointed message to the public and the authorities, the doctors’ union chief said: “To the people of Kiambu: we are with you. To the government: we are watching.”

The shutdown notice comes just days after KMPDU demanded the immediate withdrawal of all medical officer interns deployed to Kiambu County, citing unsafe and unsupportive working conditions caused by a prolonged doctors’ strike.

The union warned that the ongoing industrial action in Kiambu has significantly disrupted healthcare services and compromised the essential training environment required for medical interns.

"Given the critical role of senior doctors in supervising, mentoring, and supporting interns, deploying interns in an environment where such support is absent puts both the interns and patients at risk," said Dr. Atellah in an earlier statement

The union stressed that the quality of training under the internship programme guidelines cannot be upheld in Kiambu under current conditions.

KMPDU hence urged the Ministry of Health and relevant authorities to urgently repost the affected interns to alternative counties with fully functional health systems and adequate supervision frameworks.