Government to hire 2,000 new doctors after new agreement with KMPDU
Government to hire 2,000 new doctors after new agreement with KMPDU
The government will recruit 2,000 new doctors as part of a new, wide-ranging deal reached between the Ministry of Health and the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU).
The commitment made on Thursday, July 2, after high-level talks, the new doctors will be hired soon, wth a a comprehensive employment status report expected to be released in the next week.
According to the agreement, the recruitment is intended to ease pressure on overstretched public hospitals, where doctors have repeatedly raised concerns over heavy workloads and understaffing.
“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,” KMPDU stated in a statement.
The move comes days after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale confirmed that the ministry had posted over 6,000 interns who began their mandatory 12-month internship programme on July 1, 2026.
According to the ministry, the internship programme is intended to equip newly qualified healthcare professionals with practical clinical experience before they are fully licensed to practise.
The cohort includes 875 Medical Officer interns, 69 Dental Officer interns, 615 Pharmacy Officer interns and 2,000 Bachelor of Science Nursing Officer interns.
It also comprises 705 Bachelor of Science Clinical Officer interns and 2,096 Diploma Clinical Officer interns, bringing the total number of interns to 6,360.
Besides the hiring of 2,000 new doctors, the meeting also yielded several other key commitments.
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These include the settlement of salary arrears dating back several years, and the initiation of negotiations for a new 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The government also agreed to include 2024–2025 salary arrears in the upcoming supplementary budget, with payments targeted for December 2026.
In addition, outstanding arrears for the period between 2017 and 2024 will be addressed, with a progress update expected in August 2026.
Other resolutions include the activation of administrative systems to facilitate salary adjustments under the existing CBA, and reforms to improve payment timelines for doctors’ medical cover contributions.
The doctors’ union said it will monitor the implementation of the agreement, noting that the timelines set will determine whether the commitments translate into real improvements for doctors.
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