Samburu, Nakuru nurses call off their strike

Samburu county nurses have called off their two-week strike after sealing a deal with the county government.

Speaking to the press on Tuesday morning, Kenya National Union of Nurses Samburu branch Secretary Halima Leturwai said the strike has officially been called off after the county government agreed to meet some of their demands.

“We have discussed and agreed with our county government that they will promote us and the nurses’ allowances will be handled by a Nairobi negotiating team,” Leturwai said. 

Read: Nurses strike still on in 11 counties – Panyako

The county’s deputy governor who is also the acting Health executive, Julius Leseeto, said an advisory committee that consists of stakeholders from the county’s departments of health, finance, nurses union, public service board and human resource management would soon meet to discuss how to immediately implement the promotion of nurses.

“Some have advanced their careers through further education and as a county government we will look into their demands. We already have a list of nurses who qualify for promotions. We are only waiting for an advisory committee to move forward,” he said.

Read also: Kisumu nurses call off three-week strike

At the same time, Nakuru nurses have also called off their strike.

The nurses agreed to go back to work after consultations with KNUN started on Tuesday morning.

Led by their branch secretary Syprine Odera, the nurses agreed to suspend the strike for the next 60 days before planning their next move.

The union has about 1,000 members with each expected to receive Sh15,000 uniform allowance per year and Sh23,000 nursing service allowance monthly

Last week on Monday, the nurses joined their colleagues who had gone on strike in other counties demanding implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement.

KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako has maintained that their union members should remain firm and fight for their rights.

The union officials are expected to appear in court on February 26 for contempt of court.

The Ministry of Health and Council of Governors have threatened to fire striking nurses and put in place mechanisms to ensure they don’t get re-hired at any level of government.

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