Government Reaffirms Plan to Hire 2,000 Doctors Following Fresh Agreement With KMPDU

Government Reaffirms Plan to Hire 2,000 Doctors Following Fresh Agreement With KMPDU

The Kenyan government has renewed its commitment to recruit 2,000 doctors following high-level consultations with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), in a move aimed at addressing persistent staffing shortages in public hospitals and improving healthcare service delivery across the country.

The commitment was reached during a meeting held on Thursday, July 2, between officials from the Ministry of Health and KMPDU leaders, with both sides agreeing on a series of measures designed to resolve long-standing labour concerns affecting doctors.

According to the agreement, the Ministry of Health will proceed with the recruitment of the additional doctors while also releasing a comprehensive report on the country’s current medical workforce within the coming week.

The recruitment drive is expected to ease pressure on Kenya’s overstretched public health facilities, where doctors have repeatedly cited staff shortages, heavy workloads and delayed employment of qualified medical professionals as major challenges affecting patient care.

In a statement issued after the meeting, KMPDU described the discussions as productive and said they had resulted in significant commitments from the government.

“Today’s high-level consultative meeting between KMPDU and the Ministry of Health resulted in important commitments on long-standing issues affecting doctors, including the government’s reaffirmation of its commitment to employ 2,000 doctors, alongside the release of a comprehensive employment status report next week,” the union said.

The latest agreement comes only days after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale announced the deployment of more than 6,300 healthcare interns, who officially began their mandatory one-year internship programme on July 1, 2026.

According to the Ministry of Health, the internship programme is designed to provide newly qualified healthcare professionals with supervised clinical experience before they receive full professional registration and licensing.

The current intake comprises 875 Medical Officer interns, 69 Dental Officer interns, 615 Pharmacy Officer interns, 2,000 Bachelor of Science Nursing Officer interns, 705 Bachelor of Science Clinical Officer interns, and 2,096 Diploma Clinical Officer interns, bringing the total number of interns deployed nationwide to 6,360.

Health sector stakeholders have welcomed the internship programme but continue to argue that internship placements alone cannot solve the country’s chronic shortage of fully employed doctors.

Medical professionals have consistently called for increased recruitment into permanent and pensionable positions, warning that public hospitals continue to face overwhelming patient numbers amid inadequate staffing.

Beyond the commitment to recruit 2,000 doctors, Thursday’s negotiations also produced several agreements aimed at resolving outstanding employment disputes between the government and healthcare workers.

Among the resolutions is the settlement of salary arrears that have accumulated over several years, with both parties agreeing to begin negotiations on a new 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The government further committed to include salary arrears accumulated during the 2024–2025 financial years in the forthcoming Supplementary Budget, with payments expected to begin by December 2026.

Officials also agreed to address outstanding arrears dating back to the 2017–2024 period, with a progress report expected to be presented in August 2026.

Other measures agreed upon include activating administrative systems necessary to implement salary adjustments contained in the current CBA, improving the processing of doctors’ medical insurance contributions and streamlining payroll systems to reduce delays.

KMPDU noted that while the commitments represent positive progress, successful implementation will ultimately determine whether doctors experience meaningful improvements in their working conditions.

The union pledged to closely monitor the government’s adherence to the agreed timelines and hold authorities accountable for fulfilling every commitment made during the negotiations.

The latest breakthrough comes after years of recurring disputes between doctors and the government over employment, remuneration, promotions and working conditions, issues that have periodically resulted in nationwide industrial action and disruptions to healthcare services.

Healthcare experts say the planned recruitment, if fully implemented alongside the agreed financial reforms, could significantly strengthen Kenya’s public health system by reducing doctor-to-patient ratios, improving access to medical services and enhancing service delivery in county referral hospitals and national health facilities.

With demand for healthcare services continuing to rise, the government’s latest commitments are expected to remain under close public scrutiny as medical professionals await the implementation of the promises outlined in the agreement.

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Government Reaffirms Plan to Hire 2,000 Doctors Following Fresh Agreement With KMPDU