MOMBASA, Kenya — Doctors in Mombasa have suspended their planned strike after reaching a last-minute agreement with Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, averting a major disruption of health services across the county.
The strike, set to begin at midnight on Wednesday, was called off Tuesday evening following hours of negotiations between officials from the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists’ Union (KMPDU) and the County Government of Mombasa.
Speaking after the talks, KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah said the union had secured key commitments, particularly on long-standing promotion delays.
“As you know, our strike with Mombasa County is to commence today at midnight. In the morning, we had a Kamkunji with doctors to discuss the various issues we addressed in the strike notice that was lapsing tonight,” he said.
Atellah announced that 105 doctors will be promoted by April 1, 2026. The promotions span several job groups, including 15 doctors in the common cadre, 25 moving to Job Group Q, 25 to Job Group P, 17 to Job Group R, and four to Job Group S. An additional 20 doctors will receive promotion letters by July 1, 2026.
“That means all the doctors that we presented to the county will be promoted on April 1 and July 1,” Atellah said.
The parties also agreed to review doctors serving on contract. According to Atellah, the county will reassess their status and issue confirmation letters or convert them to permanent and pensionable terms by June 1, 2026.
Governor Nassir said the county’s policy has been to grant permanent and pensionable terms after two three-year contracts to assess discipline and performance. However, he agreed to review the current cases and extend the exercise across all cadres.
“As we do that, the county government will do it simultaneously for all other cadres, from doctors to nurses to firemen to inspectors and everyone else,” Nassir said, adding that the move would not have additional budgetary implications.
On delayed SACCO and statutory remittances, a key grievance in the strike notice, Atellah said both sides reconciled their figures.
At the same time, the union had initially cited five months of non-remittance; a review established that two months were pending. The county committed to clearing one month by June and the remaining month in the next financial year.
The union had also protested the interdiction of Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital CEO Dr. Iqbal Khandwalla. Atellah said the matter was not extensively discussed during the meeting because the interdiction had already been lifted following court action.
Both sides further agreed in principle to shield doctors from political interference in hospitals.
“We’ve agreed with the governor that MCAs, MPs, and any politicians have no role in medical practice. The governor has agreed to support us and protect doctors from any political interference or insecurity that may interfere with their work,” Atellah said.
Governor Nassir confirmed that while technical teams will finalize documentation, all substantive issues have been agreed upon in principle.
Last week, KMPDU had issued a seven-day strike notice, accusing the county of breaching the 2021 Return-to-Work Formula and failing to address career stagnation, contractual concerns, manual payroll systems and non-remittance of statutory deductions.
The agreement now averts what would have been a paralysis of healthcare services in the coastal county.
