No end in sight as health workers' strike leaves patients stranded
A nurse gesturing next to a banner at the entrance of Afya House in Nairobi on July 30,2026 during the Kenya National Union of Nurses workers protests demanding the implementation of their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and calling on the Council of Governors (CoG) to sign and honor the negotiated deal.
Patients across the country continue to suffer as the stalemate over the healthcare workers' strike drags on, crippling services in public facilities.
The Council of Governors (CoG) insists the workers should resume duty since the process of meeting their demands is already underway. But leaders of the health workers' unions maintain the strike will only be called off once every box has been ticked.
Speaking at a media town hall on Tuesday, August 11, Council of Governors CEO Mary Mwiti told journalists the standoff would be resolved by the end of the week.
"It is just a section of healthcare workers that are on strike. If you compare this with before devolution, we stand at a better place than we were previously," she said.
"Health labour unrests have drastically reduced compared to the last seven years," she added.
From left: Council of Governors CEO Mary Mwiti, KMPDU Secretary-General Davji Atellah and Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi on October 24, 2025.
Although Mary said only two cadres were on strike, Nation can confirm there are more, among them public health officers, nurses, clinical officers, pharmaceutical technologists and laboratory technicians.
On the striking clinical officers, Mary said the CoG had already agreed to their collective bargaining agreement and signed it. The return-to-work formula had also been executed, she said, but a process still had to be followed before it could be implemented.
She explained that after the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the return-to-work formula are signed, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) must concur on the remuneration and allowances, for purposes of standardisation across job groups.
"Kuco (Kenya Union of Clinical Officers) should have waited before going on strike because we had agreed and most of the counties have started implementing as we wait for the SRC," she said.
She added that the governors met last Thursday to discuss the nurses' issues and agreed on a raft of measures to enable them to return to work. A further meeting would be held to finalise the process.
"We are waiting to receive a memorandum and the council of governors are ready to engage and negotiate to ensure there is full restoration of services to the citizens," the CoG boss said.
The government will hold a two-day Health Summit next week, and Mary said human resources for health would be among the critical issues discussed. She said she was looking forward to feedback on how to improve the relationship between the unions and the counties.
"I want to believe that by end of the week, we will have agreed. By the time we are going to the summit, all the labour unrests will have ended," she noted.
But Kuco chairperson Peterson Wachira, on Wednesday, August 12, clarified that the SRC had already done its part by issuing a circular to guide the implementation of the new salaries.
"We are now waiting for CoG to update the payslips. They are supposed to write to the Ministry of Public Service so that we can get this update," he said.
Kenya National Union of Nurses workers protest in Nairobi. They were demanding the implementation of their collective bargaining agreement.
Wachira said there had been good progress in the signing of the return-to-work formula by most counties, but 18 were yet to do so: Kisumu, Kakamega, Busia, Kajiado, Uasin Gishu, Baringo, Laikipia, Nyandarua, Embu, Isiolo, Makueni, Marsabit, Murang'a, Nyeri, Kiambu, Mandera, Wajir and Lamu.
"We plan to finalise all this by next week. Nothing substantive has come out of the meetings we have had so far. We will meet the Council of Governors again tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss our issues," he said.
Brown Ashira, Secretary-General of the Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU), told Nation none of their demands had been met.
"The governors are still asking us to go back to work without an agreement," he said.
"Immunisation clinics are now down and we have noticed several foodborne and waterborne illnesses," he added.
Ashira said that ahead of tomorrow's meeting with the CoG, there would be parallel demonstrations by all striking healthcare workers, including nurses, clinical officers, public health officers, pharmaceutical technologists and laboratory technicians.
Lucy Mburu, Assistant Secretary-General of the Kenya National Union of Nurses, told Nation that in their meetings with the CoG, they had insisted on a court order issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Mombasa.
"We had a meeting with the conciliator from the Ministry of Labour, but there was no deal yet, we will have another meeting with them on Monday next week," she said.
Meanwhile, in Uasin Gishu, healthcare workers took to the streets yesterday in a joint protest over unpaid salary arrears and the county executive's failure to implement signed CBAs.
The demonstrations disrupted operations at key public health facilities, including Uasin Gishu County Hospital, leaving hundreds of patients unattended.
Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii.
Addressing the media during the protest, union officials accused Governor Jonathan Bii's administration of ignoring their grievances despite repeated notices and multi-sectoral negotiations.
Kuco Branch Secretary David Martin decried what he termed systemic negligence by the county leadership towards workers' welfare and statutory obligations.
"We have reached a breaking point. Our members have been working under gruelling conditions while the county administration continuously ignores signed agreements," said Martin.
He said the CBA was not a favour but a legally binding agreement that must be implemented.
Kuco Uasin Gishu Branch Chairman Dennis Cheruiyot criticised the county treasury, saying it had prioritised non-essential expenditure while healthcare workers faced severe financial distress.
"It is unacceptable that the officers expected to save lives are themselves battling extreme financial hardship due to unpaid salaries," he said.
"We will not be appeased by verbal assurances this time. Action must precede any resumption of work," he added.
The strike has drawn in multiple cadres of the health workforce. Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory Officers (KNUMLO) Branch Chairperson Richard Korir said the crisis had compromised the delivery of health services, putting both workers and patients at risk.
"Our diagnostic services and laboratories are completely shut because our officers cannot work on empty stomachs and without basic statutory protections," he said.
He called on the county leadership to account for the delayed salary arrears, saying his union stood in solidarity with the striking healthcare workers.
"We stand in complete solidarity with all health cadres, and we are advising members of the public to seek alternative care until the Uasin Gishu County Executive takes health sector labour rights seriously," he said.
Korir also accused the county of forcing students to provide serious medical services that should only be handled by qualified medical professionals.
The paralysis has triggered concern among residents, with growing calls for county authorities and the Ministry of Health to intervene urgently to avert what locals fear could become a wider public health crisis.
"We are worried about the medical situation in this county, and we demand that the leadership of this county take the demands of striking medics for taxpayers to get quality medical services," said a local activist, Ken Ruto.
The demonstrations follow repeated attempts by the unions to get the county to address outstanding salary arrears, statutory deductions and the implementation of signed CBAs.
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