The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has condemned the Council of Governors (CoG) for dismissing reports of 131 newborn deaths in Kiambu County.

In a strongly worded statement released on Monday, October 6, 2025, KMPDU accused the governors of showing callous insensitivity and disdain for innocent lives. The union said the CoG’s attempt to downplay the tragedy was proof that the county leadership had lost touch with the reality facing patients in public hospitals.

The union’s statement came after the CoG, chaired by Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi, who got re-elected chairperson of council of governors, issued a response describing the deaths as a false publication and a pure witch-hunt. The governors insisted that Kiambu’s health system was functional and that doctors were on duty.

Also watch: Kiambu governor dismisses claims of hospital crisis as politically motivated.

KMPDU, however, rejected the explanation, calling it a distortion of facts.

“Governors in high towers, while mothers mourn in silence,” the statement read. The union questioned which hospitals the CoG was referring to, saying the death certificates and grieving families told a different story.

“Your attempt to quibble over the number of the dead as if debating whether the toll is plus or minus one is a horrific demonstration of detachment,” the union said. “One life lost is one too many.”

“Your statement confirms our worst fears: the gross mishandling of this industrial action by Governor Wamatingi was not an isolated incident but a chilling sample of a rotten system overseen by the entire Council.”

The doctors’ union accused county leaders of ignoring long-standing problems in the health sector. They said the ongoing strike in Kiambu was a result of broken promises and poor management.

“For 131 days, patients have suffered in dilapidated facilities,” the statement read. KMPDU said the governors had failed to fix health systems but continued to enjoy private medical care and foreign treatment for minor issues.

The union demanded that the CoG retract its statement and issue a public apology to the families of the deceased children. It also called for an independent investigation into the deaths and accountability for any officials found responsible.

KMPDU further asked President William Ruto to dissolve the Kiambu County Government for what it described as gross failure and criminal negligence.

“The governors must remember that their mandate is to serve, not to preside over preventable deaths and then use their offices to deny reality,” said KMPDU Secretary General Davji Atellah.

He added that if the CoG failed to act, doctors across the country would issue a national strike notice on October 25, 2025 in solidarity with their Kiambu colleagues.

“Based on your collective action to perpetuate injustice and defend impunity, the Kenyan doctors too will take collective action in solidarity with their Kiambu colleagues through the issuance of a National Strike Notice on 25th October 2025 to protect the dignity of the medical profession and to defend the sanctity of life and healthcare in Kenya.”

Governors denies neonatal deaths

The CoG, on its part, maintained that health is a devolved function and accused KMPDU of politicising the matter.

“We urge the Ministry of Health and KMPDU to stop politicising health and leave counties to run their affairs,” Governor Abdullahi said in a statement.

He said Kiambu hospitals remained operational and that reports of 136 deaths were “not actual.”

But KMPDU dismissed that position, saying it amounted to denial and disrespect for grieving families. The union insisted that evidence of the deaths existed and that attempts to cover it up were an insult to the victims.

KMPDU said the crisis reflected deeper issues across all counties, where health workers have repeatedly raised concerns over unpaid dues and poor working conditions.