Doctors in Garissa and Embu counties are set to benefit from promotions and secure employment terms following separate talks between the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and the two county governments, with agreements reached on long-standing labour concerns.
In Garissa County, KMPDU Secretary General Dr. Davji Atellah said the union held discussions with county leaders led by Governor Nathif Jama on December 5, 2025, at the county offices located at Blue Violet Plaza.
The meeting focused on stalled promotions for doctors who had met the required criteria.
Dr. Atellah said the Governor agreed to promote all consultants who were due to move from Job Group M to Q, with the promotions scheduled to take effect by December 17, 2025.
He confirmed that by December 16, 2025, promotion letters for most of the affected doctors had already been prepared and were available for collection at Garissa Level 5 Hospital.
He explained that five doctors had not yet received their letters because they had not submitted their graduation certificates. According to Dr. Atellah, the county will process their promotions once the documents are presented.
Separately, the union announced progress in Embu County after signing a Return-to-Work Formula with the county government following a consultative meeting held on December 15, 2025.
The meeting was chaired by Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire and addressed issues raised by doctors in a strike notice issued on November 17, 2025, which led to a strike that began on December 1, 2025.
Under the agreement, the county confirmed that fifty-nine doctors had already been promoted in line with a Return-to-Work Formula signed in August 2024, except for nineteen consultants. The county committed to promote the remaining consultants by January 15, 2026, with the changes expected to appear in their January 2026 payslips.
The agreement also provided for the conversion of thirty doctors who had been serving on contract terms to permanent and pensionable terms. The county further committed that all future recruitment of doctors in Embu will be on permanent and pensionable terms.
“The county has committed to employ 20 doctors on PnP terms, with 14 to be employed immediately and the remaining 6 to be employed in January 2026,” Dr. Atellah stated.
“The county confirmed that all pending statutory deductions have been fully remitted.”
Dr. Atellah said the resolutions reached with the Embu County government were formally captured in the Return-to-Work Formula and will be adopted in court. He added that the union welcomed the county’s commitment to permanent and pensionable employment and acknowledged the willingness of the Embu leadership to resolve the dispute through dialogue.
