Nurses’ strike in Kenya cripples health services

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI (AA) - Health services across Kenya have been disrupted Monday after nurses in the country downed their tools, demanding pay raise among others.

Over 45,000 nurses under the largest union -- the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) -- boycotted their work and took to the streets, forcing some public hospitals to refer patients to private hospitals.

The nurses are protesting against what they call a violation of an agreement by the Kenyan government, which was to be signed in December last year.

The agreement had to pave way for harmonizing nurses’ salary, providing better healthcare equipment in hospitals, hiring more nurses among others.

KNUN Acting Secretary General Morris Opetu had made an announcement on Sunday calling on all nurses to protest if the government snubs their plea to sign the deal.

The Council of Governors on Monday rushed to avert a health crisis in the country by calling for an urgent meeting to find a solution to end the strike.

The Council of Governors consists of the governors of the 47 Counties in the country. It is a forum for consultation for county governments.

Earlier, this year Kenyans suffered for at least 100 days due to a doctors’ strike that had thrown the country’s healthcare system into a crisis.