The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) on Monday, July 8, announced the end of its strike that had paralysed operations at public hospitals.
This followed negotiations with the Council of Governors (CoG) and the subsequent signing of a return-to-work formula overseen by Council's Health Committee Chairperson, Muthomi Njuki (Tharaka Nithi Governor).
As such, all clinical officers were ordered to report to their workstations immediately and not later than 24 hours from the moment of calling off the strike.
“We began our strike on April 1, after seven days of notice, we have been on strike until today when today by virtue of signing this return to work we are officially declaring our strike has come to an end,” KUCO stated.
“Our members shall resume duty in their respective place of work starting today and not less than 24 hours from the date herein.”
KUCO called off the strike two days after President William Ruto formed a Presidential Taskforce on Addressing Human Resources for Health.
The organisation will be represented by Jacinta Rwamba who is KUCO’s National Gender Secretary.
KUCO’s strike had threatened to cripple the health sector in Kenya as clinical officers are providers of primary healthcare services.
The end of the strike was a welcome move for the Ministry of Health as clinical officers handle 99 per cent of outpatient clinical services.
Clinical officers had demanded that county governors implement a 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the healthcare workers and the Ministry of Health (MoH).
Negotiations dragged after initial reluctance by the Council of Governors who argued they were not parties to the 2021 CBA.
The two parties later agreed to negotiate with the Council of Governors agreeing to sign the return to work formula.
