Nakuru nurses say no to threats as strike enters 34th day

The County Government of Nakuru suffered a major blow after striking nurses declined to return to work on Wednesday, January 4.

The over 1,200 nurses, speaking in Nakuru on Wednesday, said they would not resume duty until their demands are met.

They downplayed sacking threats by Governor Kinuthia Mbugua who had said that the county was putting in place measures to replace the striking health workers.

Julius Nyambaka, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN), Nakuru Branch secretary General, said the nurses will not ‘be cowed by the threats from the County Public Service Board.’

He noted that most nurses had been threatened with interdiction letters and possible removal from government houses saying that such threats will only serve to strengthen the union’s resolve.

Mr Nyambaka said that the only sure way to call off the strike is through the implementation of the return-to-work agreement that was entered in July last year.

“The County Government of Nakuru should move with speed and implement the terms of return-to-work formula signed in July last year,” said Nyambaka.

He further termed the recruitment of contractual health workers by the county government as a shortcut that will prove costly as most of them are not experienced in handling the machines installed in hospitals.

“The machines recently installed at the Nakuru Level Five and the Naivasha Level Four hospitals risk breakdown as they are being handled by people who are not experienced.”

The strike, which is in its 34^th day, has seen services paralysed across all public health facilities in the county.

The July 2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) would see the nurses get a pay rise, improved working conditions and more caregivers recruited.

Efforts to reach Nakuru Chief Officer for Health, Dr Samuel Mwaura, for a comment bore no fruits as calls went unanswered.