- The payment of basic salary arrears by doctors employed by the county governments takes effect from July 1, 2024.
- The initial deal signed between the Ministry of Health and the doctors had provided that the arrears accrued to doctors be paid in a period of five years.
Image: PCS
The government has committed to pay doctors their salary arrears backdated to 2017 within the next two years through a conditional grant worth Sh3.5 billion.
A circular by the Head of Public Service Felix Koskei shows that President William Ruto directed that the arrears be cleared in two tranches from July 1, 2024.
The deal was reached following a meeting between the doctors union and the President at State House on May 14, ending a 56-day strike that paralyzed health services.
“The settlement of the basic salary arrears by doctors employed by the county governments be concluded within two years, with effect from July 1, 2024," reads the circular dated May 29.
The letter is addressed to National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndungu and his Health Counterpart Susan Kakhumicha and copied to the Council of Governors chairperson Anne Waiguru.
“The Ministry of Health, jointly with the National Treasury and Economic Planning to facilitate the settlement of the basic salary arrears by allocating Sh1.75 billion annually starting July 1, 2024, as a conditional grant to county governments," the circular adds.
The circular provides that the President had considered the proposals by the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union and reviewed an earlier return to work formula signed on May 8, 2024.
“It is notified that the President has considered the proposal as codified in the return to work formula and in recognition of the unique role of medical personnel as vanguards of the nation’s health system," reads the circular in part.
Koskei directed the National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary “to take appropriate action" as directed by the President.
The initial deal signed between the Ministry of Health and the doctors had provided that the arrears accrued to doctors be paid in a period of five years backdated to 2017.
“The basic salary arrears accrued by doctors under the employment by county governments as of June 30, 2024, shall be settled in five years with effect from July 1, 2024. The payment tenure shall be subject to annual review, with the possibility of reducing the payment timelines,” the return-to-work formula document says.
The national government also acquiesced to doctors' demands for promotions.