Kenyan Nurses End 43-Day Strike After Government Signs Return-to-Work Deal

A 43-day strike by hospital nurses in Kenya has officially ended following the signing of a return-to-work agreement between the government and the nurses' union on Wednesday.

Seth Panyako, secretary-general of the nurses' union, confirmed that members will resume duties at hospitals within 24 hours. The agreement provides a 45-day window for negotiations to conclude on implementing a collective bargaining agreement originally reached in 2017 after a six-month strike. That earlier agreement has remained unimplemented, with the government citing budgetary constraints.

The resolution comes a day after nurses marched to the office of the Council of Governors, a body representing Kenya's 47 county governments.

During the strike, doctors had threatened to join the walkout, citing an increased workload as they covered for the striking nurses. Dr. Davji Bhimji Atellah, secretary-general of the doctors' union, said doctors had become overburdened and "cannot do the nursing jobs." He noted that hospitals were already facing a shortage of doctors and stressed that the healthcare system required teamwork.

"We will not watch silently as the healthcare system we have dedicated our lives to serving is allowed to deteriorate. When one part of healthcare is compromised, we all suffer. And when we stand together, we protect our patients together," he wrote on social media platform X.

Atellah said the doctors' union had given the government seven days to resolve the nurses' issues, failing which doctors would issue a strike notice.

The Senate also discussed the closure of hospital dispensaries in some counties on Tuesday. Senator Samson Cherargei of Nandi County reported a "surge in deaths," blaming the Council of Governors and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission for what he termed a "national crisis."