A patient has threatened to mobilise other patients across the country to hug buildings at the Ministry of Health offices in Nairobi for 72 hours until President William Ruto addresses the ongoing clinicians' strike.
Speaking to the media during the clinicians' media briefing, the patient announced the move, which resembles Truphena Muthoni’s silent activism.
The man by the name Prof. Fred Ogola, who claimed to represent all patients in Kenya, revealed that the strike has affected patients across the country, demanding that the government sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement or else the patients shall hug the MoH building.
“If they do not sign the CBA, we shall call upon all patients and clinicians and come hug this building (at the ministry) for 72 hours until the President calls us for talks in State House,” the patient claimed.
The patient accused the government of sidelining clinical officers and called for their grievances to be addressed and resolved.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has accused the Health Cabinet Secretary, Aden Duale, of negligence and impunity, blaming him for the ongoing strike.
According to the clinicians, the CBA agreement was ready to be completed, but the Health CS declined to sign the deal.
The clinicians have refuted claims that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) was responsible for the delays in the signing of the CBA.
“They have been claiming that the problem was with SRC, which is a lie; we know that SRC gave the approval in August,” KUCO National Chairperson Peterson Wachira stated.
Wachira also cited that the government has failed to honour previous court orders and return-to-work formulas (RTWF) from July 2024 and January 2025.
The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) began their strike on December 22, 2025, after giving a 21-day strike notice.
The Council of Governors went to court seeking orders to stop the strike, but the Employment and Labour Relations Court declined to restrain the strike. The case will be mentioned on 15th January 2026.
