Kenya's nurses end six-week strike after signing deal with government

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A 43-day strike by hospital nurses in Kenya ended on Wednesday after the government and union signed a return-to-work agreement.

Seth Panyako, secretary-general of the nurses' union, said his members would return to hospitals within 24 hours. He said the return-to-work agreement provided 45 days for negotiations to conclude on the implementation of a collective bargaining agreement that was reached in 2017 following a six-month strike. That agreement remains unimplemented due to what the government has termed budgetary constraints.

The development came a day after nurses marched to the Council of Governors’ office, a body established to bring together Kenya’s 47 county governments.

Doctors in Kenya had on Tuesday threatened to join the walkout, citing an increased workload in hospitals as they covered for the striking nurses.

Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah, secretary-general of the doctors’ union, said doctors had become overburdened and “cannot do the nursing jobs.” He said hospitals were already dealing with a shortage of doctors and that the healthcare system required teamwork.

“We will not watch silently as the healthcare system we have dedicated our lives to serving is allowed to deteriorate. When one part of healthcare is compromised, we all suffer. And when we stand together, we protect our patients together,” he wrote in a post on X.

Atellah said the doctors’ union had given the government seven days to resolve the issues raised by the nurses, failing which the doctors would issue a strike notice.

The Senate on Tuesday discussed the closure of hospital dispensaries in some counties.

Nandi County’s Sen. Samson Cherargei said there had been a “surge in deaths” while blaming the Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for the “national crisis.”