The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has issued a 26-day notice for a nationwide strike starting on June 24 after accusing the government of failing to address their long-standing grievances.
The union's Secretary General, Seth Panyako, while addressing the press on Thursday, May 29, accused the government of consistently ignoring their grievances, which touched on key labour issues.
According to Panyako, several union grievances remain unresolved, with some spanning over seven years despite frequent appeals for the government's intervention.
Panyako revealed that, beginning June 24, all nurses countrywide would down their tools to demand immediate staff employment on permanent and pensionable terms under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) programme.
He noted that nurses working under UHC were forced to work under precarious conditions with little pay, despite having the necessary qualifications that should guarantee better remuneration.
"The national strike is premised on the following issues that have remained unresolved, some spanning for more than seven years, we are saying it's now or never," Panyako said.
"Nurses employed under UHC have suffered for more than five years, earning peanuts while doing the same job with their counterparts who have equal academic qualifications," he added.
The government, through the Ministry of Health, was also faulted for failing to implement the new 2024 salary structure for nurses, which became effective from July last year.
On the same note, the Kenya Clinical Officers Association (KCOA) also threatened to join the nurses in the strike, accusing President William Ruto's administration of failing to fulfil some of the promises it made to them.
In a presser, the clinical officers lamented the lack of a proper medical insurance scheme for them following the government's decision to phase out the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
"We want to see actions, clinical officers have said they are facing challenges in their health insurance schemes, they are unable to access medical services because they do not have a proper medical scheme," said a representative of the clinical officers.
In their plights, the nurses’ and clinical officers' unions also called on the National Treasury to amend the budget allocated to the Ministry of Health to ensure adequate funds for healthcare officers.
