The Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) has threatened to launch a nationwide strike a day after 20 nurses were injured when their protest was disrupted by armed goons.
In a press statement on Wednesday, October 1, the unions' heads slammed Siaya County Governor James Orengo for allegedly facilitating the disruption, cautioning that using violence to prevent the medics from protesting will make the situation worse.
The Union stated that the county government must ensure that it resolves the strike; otherwise, the union will kickstart a regional strike, which will then escalate to a national strike if the situation persists.
"Some nurses were taken to the hospital because they were attacked by goons unleashed on them by the county government of Siaya. Using goons to disrupt the strike is unconstitutional and cannot resolve anything," the union stated.
"The only option the county government has is to ensure that these issues are addressed, and if they are not addressed, the nurses of Siaya will remain on strike as soon as possible, and if you continue using force, we will not be calm because we will kickstart a regional and then national strike," it added.
The attack happened on Tuesday, September 30, when the medics assembled outside the Siaya county officers ' station, where they were denied entry and were then attacked by armed goons.
In addition to 20 nurses sustaining injuries from the attack, the KNUNM Siaya branch secretary, Kennedy Hamisi, claimed that the goons managed to steal several mobile phones from the nurses.
According to the Union, the nurses’ strike, now in its 19th day, has been fuelled by unresolved issues such as the non-remittance of statutory deductions, the county’s failure to comply with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission circular, and its refusal to honour the collective bargaining agreement and persistent salary delays.
"Other counties have already implemented a plan to ensure that the grievances of nurses are resolved, but Siaya has been left behind, and we want to assure the governor that he will not run away from these issues by unleashing goons on our members," the union stated.
The announcement comes after the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) notified 697 medical interns in Kiambu to collect their letters of redeployment from the Ministry of Health following the ongoing medical strike in the county.
In a statement on Sunday, September 29, the union said that the strike, which is now in its fourth month, has left medical interns unable to start their programmes.
"Following the letter from the Ministry of Health (MOH) dated August 26th, 2025, indicating that you will be redeployed to different stations in the country by September 15, 2025, if the Kiambu strike is not resolved, we would like to communicate that the letters for transfer to other stations are ready," KMPDU stated.
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