Ministry of Health Assures Payment of Intern Doctors as Per CBA

The Ministry of Health has assured that it will address the concerns raised by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) regarding intern doctors’ pay.

Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa on Thursday evening announced that the ministry had already initiated payments for the cohort of 1,247 intern doctors.

According to Barasa, the payment of the intern doctors who are currently in training centres is being made as per the 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

She also reiterated that negotiations were ongoing to resolve the conflict between the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s (SRC) advisory to the Ministry of Health and the CBA signed between the Ministry of Health and KMPDU.

The CBA signed between the Ministry of Health and KMPDU provides for the payment of Ksh206,000 as a stipend to all intern doctors in the country, as opposed to the current Ksh70,000.

“The Ministry of Health remains committed to addressing the concerns of medical interns. Payments for the cohort of 1,247 interns currently in training centres are being made as per the 2017 CBA,” CS Barasa assured.

“Negotiations are ongoing to resolve the conflict between the SRC’s advisory to the Ministry of Health and the CBA signed between the Ministry of Health and KMPDU, which provides for a stipend of Ksh206,000 per month based on Job Group L,” she added.

Barasa’s statement comes hours after KMPDU gave the Ministry of Health a 30-day strike ultimatum to resolve the stalemate on the payment of intern doctors.

Addressing the press on Thursday, February 20, KMPDU Secretary-General Davji Atellah accused the Ministry of Health of attempting to unwarrantedly revise intern doctors’ stipends from the agreed Ksh206,000 to Ksh70,000.

“Barely two months after signing an agreement securing full intern postings and salaries as per the 2017 CBA, the Ministry of Health is now attempting to reverse these gains by imposing an outrageous salary cut from Ksh206,000 to Ksh70,000,” Atellah alleged.

“The latest statement by the Cabinet Secretary is not only malicious but also backwards and shameful. It must be condemned in the strongest terms. Nowhere else but at the Ministry of Health do programmes evolve in reverse,” he added.

The health workers’ union has now given the government until March 18 this year to ensure that all intern doctors are posted and paid in full under the terms of the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).