City Hall to employ 43 NMS doctors after deal with KMPDU

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja (second left) with KMPDU officials after they struck a deal for City Hall to confirm the NMS doctors. [Courtesy]

Nairobi County is set to employ 43 doctors who served under the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).

This comes after Governor Johnson Sakaja struck a return-to-work deal with the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists' Union-KMPDU.

The union’s Secretary General Dr Davji Atellah in a statement said they had engaged Governor Sakaja regarding the unconfirmed doctors under NMS and had agreed that they would be confirmed on permanent and pensionable terms.

The 43 include 35 medical officers and 8 specialists.

“The doctors will pick up their letters on August 12, 2024. This means all 115 medical officers and 18 specialists under NMS will be confirmed to permanent and pensionable terms, with the additional employment of 35 medical officers, 31 pharmacists, 20 dentists, and 8 specialists,” said Atellah.

He said the union expresses its gratitude to the county leadership for its cooperation and commitment to recognising the vital contributions of the medical professionals.

“At KMPDU, we are committed to ensuring no member is left behind. We are stronger together,” he said.

The doctor’s fate has been in the balance since 2022 when Governor Sakaja took over City Hall and abolished the existence of NMS.

The absorption of Nairobi Metropolitan Services doctors was among the 19 demands that the doctors had listed as they staged the countrywide strike that lasted for 56 days.

Confirmation of the said doctors is among the deals that were struck with the Health Ministry as the doctors called off the strike.

Despite this development, there however remain questions on the scandal of fully-equipped city hospitals without adequate staff.

In a move to bolster healthcare infrastructure, the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Service built several cutting-edge hospitals across Nairobi, aiming to provide free quality medical services to the city’s growing population.

While these facilities stand as a testament to progress, the hospitals, despite being fully equipped with modern amenities, are grappling with severe financial constraints and a dire shortage of staff, hampering services.

Even the posting of 500 workers previously attached to NMS is yet to address the crisis.