The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has thrown its weight behind Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale\u2019s directive on the employment of foreign doctors, warning that widespread violations of labour, immigration and remuneration laws are undermining medical ethics and patient safety.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, KMPDU Secretary-General Dr Davji Atellah said the union supports the directive as it is firmly grounded in existing law and addresses what he termed \u201cmodern-day slavery\u201d within parts of Kenya\u2019s private healthcare sector.<\/p>\n
According to KMPDU, more than 300 foreign doctors have been licensed to practise in Kenya in recent years, with over 3,000 having worked in the country over the last three years<\/p>\n
\u00a0While the union insists it is not opposed to foreigners working in Kenya, it says many are being recruited by private and mission hospitals under exploitative terms that violate Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) and regulations set by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC).<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of these doctors are paid wages far below what is stipulated in the CBA and gazetted rates, some as low as Sh40,000 to Sh50,000 per month,\u201d Dr Atellah said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThat is exploitation, plain and simple. It harms the individual doctors and corrodes the very foundation of ethical medical practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union further alleged that some facilities openly flout immigration laws by employing foreign doctors without valid work permits, or by disregarding the requirements of Class D work permits.<\/p>\n
\u00a0KMPDU also claims that employers often fail to demonstrate that the skills they are importing are unavailable locally, despite thousands of Kenyan doctors remaining unemployed or underemployed.<\/p>\n
Deputy Secretary-General Dr Miskellah Maghanga drew parallels with the controversial importation of Cuban doctors in previous years, which he said was used to undermine local practitioners and force acceptance of poor working conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told experts were being brought in, yet we ended up teaching them more than they taught us,\u201d Dr Maghanga said. \u201cBringing in foreign doctors to disadvantage our own children who have trained in medicine is an act of self-sabotage.\u201d<\/p>\n
KMPDU singled out several private facilities, alleging they prioritise profit over patient welfare by recruiting doctors from countries such as India, Egypt and Pakistan, subjecting them to \u201cimpossible expectations\u201d while paying wages that do not reflect the responsibility of their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The union warned that such practices ultimately harm patients, particularly poorer Kenyans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese physicians are not being hired to fill genuine skills gaps,\u201d Dr Maghanga said. \u201cNo properly qualified doctor would willingly accept such pay. The result is compromised care, and the Kenyan patient pays the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union also linked recent healthcare scandals, including those involving kidney transplant services, to lax enforcement of immigration and remuneration laws.<\/p>\n
In response, KMPDU announced it is launching a nationwide compliance campaign to ensure full enforcement of labour, immigration and professional regulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The campaign will target both local and foreign doctors\u2019 employment conditions, with the union demanding immediate alignment with all stipulated and gazetted pay rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cKMPDU is taking an unyielding stand against the exploitation of doctors,\u201d Dr Atellah said. \u201cWe stand in solidarity with the CS\u2019s directive and will not relent until all facilities comply with the law and uphold equal pay for equal work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union has also called on immigration authorities and labour regulators to step up enforcement, warning that continued inaction will further tarnish Kenya\u2019s medical system and erode public trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has thrown its weight behind Health Cabinet Secretary Aden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10923,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[3672,7533,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-10922","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-citizen-digital","9":"tag-citizen-news","10":"tag-kenya"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10922\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}