Kenyan Nurses Call Off 43-Day Strike After Deal With Governors

Kenya’s nurses have called off their 43-day nationwide strike after reaching a return-to-work agreement with the Council of Governors, paving the way for the resumption of services in public hospitals.

Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) Secretary-General Seth Panyako announced the end of the strike on Wednesday, September 9, following a day-long meeting with the Council of Governors (CoG).

The strike, which began on July 29, had disrupted healthcare services across the country as nurses demanded the implementation of a 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), improved allowances, career progression guidelines and permanent and pensionable terms for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers.

Nurses to Return to Work

Panyako directed nurses to resume duty immediately and within 24 hours, giving county governments time to restore normal operations in public health facilities.

Under the agreement, the two sides have been given 45 days to conclude negotiations on the implementation of the 2017 CBA. The Council of Governors also committed to coordinating the development of a model career progression guideline for nursing personnel within the same period.

The agreement further provides for an increase in two allowances. Nurses are set to receive an additional KSh8,000 in risk allowance and KSh5,000 in uniform allowance, bringing the combined increase to KSh13,000.

Deal Averts Wider Health Crisis

The breakthrough comes after weeks of escalating pressure on county governments and the national government to resolve the dispute.

On Tuesday, nurses demonstrated and marched to the Council of Governors’ offices in Nairobi, intensifying their demand for a settlement. 

At the same time, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) gave the government seven days to resolve the nurses’ grievances or face a possible doctors’ strike.

The threat by doctors raised concerns that the prolonged nurses’ strike could develop into a broader crisis within the public health system, with doctors already reporting increased workloads as they covered some duties normally performed by nurses.

The return-to-work deal now provides a window for the unions and county governments to address the outstanding employment issues while allowing nurses to resume providing essential healthcare services.

The Council of Governors has maintained that the counties face financial constraints in implementing some of the nurses’ demands, while the union has continued to insist that the agreements reached with health workers must be honoured.

With the strike now officially over, attention will shift to whether the 45-day implementation period produces lasting solutions to the issues that triggered the dispute in the first place.