KMPDU polls: Members raise credibility concerns

KMPDU Secretary General Devji Atellah and Deputy Secretary General Dennis Miskellah address a press conference on the crisis at Coast General Hospital in Nairobi, on February 23, 2026. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

As the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) prepares for this year’s elections, discontent within the union is growing.

This comes after some candidates cast a shadow over the process and questioned its independence and transparency. This is even as the Independent Electoral Committee insists the election will be free, fair, and transparent.

The official campaign period runs from March 16 to March 31, with online voting scheduled for April 2 between 6am and 4pm.

A number of positions, both at national and branch levels, are up for grabs, including key offices such as national chairperson, deputy chairperson, secretary seneral, deputy secretary general, treasurer and deputy treasurer.

Last week, Dr Clarence Eboso, who had been slated to challenge the incumbent Secretary General Davji Atellah, withdrew from the race.

Dr Eboso’s withdrawal leaves Dr. Atellah effectively unchallenged, raising concerns among some members about the competitiveness and legitimacy of the race.

In a statement released on March 13, Dr Eboso expressed disillusionment with the electoral process, asserting it lacked credibility and fairness.

“Colleagues, few of us believe we have a credible process of union elections going on. Even fewer have any hope of remedy,” he said.

Dr. Eboso also raised concerns about the election process.

He said the notice of election directives was withheld from members and that branch membership registers were altered without the involvement of elected representatives. A technical review of the online voting platform, he claimed, revealed vulnerabilities.

Inbuilt protection

“The voting system has inbuilt protection that prevents voting more than twice using the same IP address. But internally, they have deliberately allowed the administrator to have the ability to split IP addresses and mask the IP address but still allow a vote,” he claimed.

The Vihiga-based medic continued: “This will enable those with access to the system to rig without leaving any red flags in the audit trail!”

Dr. Eboso warned members said the election should be stopped.

“I have refused to participate in a sham a third time. I have refused to pay those exorbitant and prohibitive nomination fees. I have refused to legitimise a fraud on the membership,” he declared.

The aspirant recounted past controversies, highlighting the 2021 Secretary General election in which Dr. Atellah beat Chibanzi Mwachonda.

“Following a contested election, instead of convening a Delegates Conference for members to ratify the validity of the elections as required by our constitution, officials in collusion with state agents at the Ministry of Labour rushed to gazette persons declared by the IEC, leading to a court battle that ended in nullification. Members were never consulted,” he stated.

But the Independent Electoral Committee, chaired by Mounde Mokaya and with Pauline Kiprop as Secretary, responded to the criticism, insisting that the election preparations were credible.

In a statement issued to members on March 14, IEC said over 130 applications for elective positions across both the National Executive and Branch Committee levels were received and thoroughly vetted to ascertain eligibility, compliance, and procedural integrity.

“All successful candidates have been cleared to contest, and those found non-compliant were duly notified with reasons for disqualification,” the statement read.