The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has called for the repeal of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2026, stating that the proposal is superfluous and mirrors regulations already in place. The union made its position clear during a public participation event held on Saturday, August 22, in Kiambu County. KMPDU maintains that current laws governing health practitioners are adequate, and that doctors do not require additional legislation to function within a properly regulated sector.
Nyeri Town Member of Parliament Duncan Mathenge backs the draft legislation. According to its description, the Bill intends to do more than merely adjust existing rules. The initial provision would add new regulatory steps aimed at preventing the illicit obtainment of practice licences. This element responds to worries that persons lacking proper qualifications or credentials could enter clinical work, a risk that endangers patient safety.
The second component calls for broadening the supervisory authority of the Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, the statutory agency tasked with issuing licences and imposing discipline on doctors and dentists. Wider oversight powers would, in theory, allow the Council to intervene more decisively in cases of professional misconduct.
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The third and potentially most impactful provision would impose severe sanctions on institutions that unlawfully hold patients or corpses because of unpaid medical charges. Such detention practices have faced ongoing public outcry in Kenya, especially when bereaved relatives cannot collect the bodies of their deceased relatives from mortuaries. Under the proposed law, offending facilities would face fines of up to Ksh 5 million and prison terms of up to five years.
KMPDU maintains that the current legal framework already equips regulators with adequate means to oversee health workers and tackle malpractice. The union frames its view as one of regulatory adequacy, asserting that Kenya lacks a void in medical-practice governance and that the proposed statute would address a non-existent issue. This stance places the union at odds with the Bill’s proponents, who argue that particular shortcomings remain unaddressed by existing legislation.
This is where KMPDU’s blanket rejection becomes harder to defend on its face. The union represents doctors and dentists – not hospital administrators or facility owners who profit from patient detention practices. Should the detention clauses target institutional offenders rather than individual practitioners, the rationale for the union’s resistance to a measure intended to safeguard patients and families from a broadly condemned practice is not readily apparent.
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